These are things I'm sure we can do some follow-up on. If they're going to bring in regulations to change vessel lengths and cause fishermen to have stability booklets that cost dollars, I think we should be involved in the process, before they come down with the hammer and say this has to be done.
To listen to you people, it should have been done a long time ago.
I guess Transport Canada's main concern is safety; DFO's main concern is preservation of stock. You know what I mean. We have two competing entities when it comes to the new regulations. I think safety is everybody's concern. We all shudder when we hear of an accident at sea, especially one that causes deaths.
As I listen to both you gentlemen this morning, I realize that everybody is on the same wavelength of safety. But if somebody is looking to increase their boat from 65 feet beyond or 45 feet beyond, whatever the case may be, they would agree today that they don't want more quota. You know, I just want to be safe on the water. I want my crew to be safe. I want to operate in a safe environment. Therefore, I'm not going to ask for additional quota.
The problem is when the boat is built and the cost of operating that boat goes through the roof--especially, as Mr. Cull touched on with the dollar and the cost of fuel--it becomes an issue after the fact.
On IQs in place now, I've heard the minister himself say it should be up to the fisherman what he wants to fish in, whether it's the Queen Mary or the 34-footer. It's up to him. The minister said that himself. But to address this from a safety point of view, somewhere along the line it's going to have to be agreed by the people in the industry that, yes, if government makes that step to go forward, they're not going to be back next year or the year after for quota.
Mr. Cull, we've been around the fishery discussions for many years. It's always the case of, “We'll get it first and then we'll try to get something after.” Let's be real here. How do we address that from a government point of view? How do we address the safety issue, which is the increase of boat length and width, whatever the case may be, but also making sure that we don't have war on our hands a couple of years down the road because nobody can make the financial commitment that is needed with the size of a new boat? That seems to be the issue. Everything else aside, the issue seems to be that the government may somewhere down the road look favourably at allowing the fisherman to build a safe boat, if he desires to build one, but at the same time not get involved in the fact of looking for more quota afterwards. It's a sticky issue. It seems that there's no clear answer to it.