Thank you, Madam Chair, for the invitation to testify today.

Before I get into my specific comments, I'd like to spend a few minutes to provide some context on the council, the sector and our trade context.

The Fisheries Council of Canada is the national voice for Canada's wild-capture commercial fisheries member companies. Member companies are processors who process the majority of Canada's fish and seafood from all three coasts, and our members, include small, medium and larger-sized companies, as well as indigenous enterprises.

The Canadian seafood industry creates 72,000 direct jobs, mainly in coastal and rural communities. In essence, the sector is the economic heart of these communities. The sector accounts for $7.6 billion in exports to over 100 countries. The largest export markets are the United States, at 64%; China, at 19%; Hong Kong and Japan, both at 2.5%; and the U.K., at 1.6%, to round out the top five. If you take the EU as a whole, it would be ranked third, at 5.5%.

Growing global demand for protein, including fish and seafood, points to growth opportunities for the sector. FCC and the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance, our counterpart on the farm side, have developed a joint 20-year vision to be a global top-three, best quality and sustainable seafood producer—not the largest, but the best.

With this vision, we have three aspirational goals: we want to double the value of the Canadian industry, double the economic benefits to largely coastal communities and double the domestic consumption of Canadian fish and seafood. These are definitely ambitious, but if you don't aim high, you don't achieve high.

The last important backdrop for our conversation today is the sustainability performance of the industry. Canada is a global leader in sustainable fisheries management, with a robust regulatory regime, and DFO reports that 95% of our fish stocks are harvested at sustainable levels. In addition, Canada's adoption of independent third-party certification ranks in the top five in terms of percentage of landings certified. We should feel proud of our collective stewardship of our fish resources.

Like all of our export sectors across Canada, the seafood sector pays very close attention to market access issues. In the agri-food sector, we are blessed with a very strong market access secretariat, which is a joint effort of Agriculture Canada and CFIA. They have been instrumental in addressing market access issues with us. Global Affairs Canada, either here in Ottawa or in trade consulates around the world, also plays a role. Where such issues relate to matters under the purview of DFO, the department engages to support the sector. All of this is important context for today.

I would like to now move on to the specifics of the trading relationship with the U.S. and the EU. These two markets receive a combined 70% of our exports. Our exports to the U.S. are $4.8 billion as of last year, and the top products are lobsters, at $1.6 billion; crab, at $1.1 billion; and salmon, at $975 million, although that is largely farmed. Halibut and scallop are a distant third and fourth, both nearing $200 million.

Our exports to the EU total $416 million, and the top products are lobster, at $200 million; shrimp and prawns at $64 million; scallops at $57 million; and then hake and salmon round out the top five at $21 million and $12 million, respectively.

The Canadian fishing industry values its trading relationships with both the U.S. and the EU. We have free trade agreements that give us preferential tariff treatment. It might be noted that our seafood exports to the U.S. are up 57% over the last decade. The growth of our exports to the EU is more modest at 23% over the last decade, and then within the last five years alone 16% since CETA was signed.

Currently, we are monitoring and engaging on several policies in the U.S. and the EU, but I suggest that we are managing the impacts reasonably well. That is not to say there aren't impacts, but we're doing reasonably well.

Lastly, I would like to suggest that many market access issues are often aimed at practices not found in Canada or particular to our sector. However, we end up vulnerable to being collateral damage if we are not diligent in monitoring potential issues.

With that, I welcome any questions you might have.

Thank you.