Question Period Note: Oceana Canada Report: Combating IUU

• Our government recognizes the global challenge of Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported fishing (IUU),
• Through the G7 Charlevoix Blueprint for Healthy Oceans, Canada has committed nearly $12 million to a number of projects to detect and combat IUU fishing in various locations worldwide.
• This includes resources to develop new surveillance technologies, improve information sharing via a Pacific fisheries intelligence sharing network, and build capacity to combat IUU fishing, particularly supporting vulnerable developing states.
• Canada’s concrete actions to fighting illegal fishing can be seen through a funding contribution to Global Fishing Watch, in support of mission to promote transparency and traceability, and working with other non-governmental organizations to track IUU fishing.

• Oceana is an international advocacy organization dedicated to ocean conservation. In a new report entitled “Untraceable”, Oceana is critical of Canada’s seafood supply chain, particularly controls on traceability and labelling.
• The report highlights an Oceana study which found 47% of seafood samples from Canadian grocery stores were mislabeled. It connects a lack of seafood traceability to the risk of seafood being sourced from illegal, unregulated or unreported fishing activity. It outlines the differences between Canada’s traceability requirements to those of the European Union.
• Fisheries and Oceans is implementing the G7 Charlevoix Blueprint for Health Oceans, which included $11.6M in funding for developing new satellite based technologies to track illegal fishing, funding to develop an intelligence sharing network, and work with NGO’s to combat IUU fishing.

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