I would say from my experience that the deterrents are definitely not strong enough.
I've heard both from folks selling seafood and from conservation and protection officers that the deterrents are not strong enough. I've heard folks from both sides say that.
We've had inspection officers from C and P come to our cold storage to inspect our seafood, who say things like what a relief it is to go through it and see pieces of fish with the skin attached so that it's easy for them to know what it is, and just how difficult it is for C and P officers to determine if what they're looking at is what it says it is on the label. There is a sort of attitude in the industry that the benefits to be had from turning a blind eye to that far outweigh the cost of trying to trace the seafood.
I think it's a very clear opportunity for government to increase enforcement, because when we talk about the cost of seafood, there is a sort of a lie being perpetuated that seafood can be really cheap. It can be really cheap when we exploit people or when we exploit ecosystems. If we were tracing that, then you wouldn't have this disparity on the shelf: “How come this piece of fish is so much cheaper than this one?”
I think the disservice that government does when we don't have strong enforcement really disproportionately affects middle-class jobs, small business and Canadian citizens.