Fisheries Committee on Nov. 8th, 2006

[Joël Arseneau]

In reality, the total allowable catch much be based on scientific data, not fear over public opinion. It is quite simple. We know from that point of view that science is on our side.

[Paul Boudreau]

As for predation by grey seals on fish stocks, scientists sometimes shy away from precisely identifying the impact on the biomass. According to a person I spoke to, scientists apparently said that seals did not eat large quantities of cod and other fish. Regardless of what people say, a seal eats a ton of fish each year.

According to one of my friends, it is simple: one thing he knows for sure is that seals do not eat strawberries. They eat fish and there are a lot of them. So it is clear that one way or another, there is an impact on the biomass.

[Roger Simon]

Tomorrow, in Shelburne, you are going to meet Dr. Mike Hammill. He is the one who conducted and published the recent studies on fish consumption in the Gulf by harp and grey seals. So you will have an opportunity to raise that tomorrow. You will be talking to the expert in the field.

[Léonard Poirier]

In terms of consumption, when you talk about a certain amount of cod, for example, you must not forget that it is part of a food chain. If the overabundance of seals is detrimental to another species, you must bear in mind that that species feeds other species, which feed other species, which feed other species, and so on. Biologists do not always measure that impact.

Biologists have often been criticized for adopting a point of view that is not comprehensive enough. In recent years, they have attempted to adopt a much more ecosystemic approach, in other words, more comprehensive. Clearly, that is not easy to measure. Nevertheless, we must not forget about the effect on the food chain.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

Merci.

I don't know if there are further questions, gentlemen. We do have another set of presenters, on stability tests for boats.

I would like to take a second and thank all of our witnesses here today. It was, again, very informative, and we've quite enjoyed the entire trip here to Îles-de-la-Madeleine.

I would just make one observation. Prior to this job I was a farmer, and I can tell you, I've sold hundreds of lambs over the years, and I don't think one customer would want to butcher their own. So I really struggle with the issue of observers on the ice. It may seem to be the right thing to allow people out there who want to observe, but if they're not a qualified veterinarian, then I would question whether or not we should allow them on the ice at all. They're not out there to be helpful. They're not out there to be factual, and they're certainly not out there to support the hunt. So I think we have to ask the question of why they are there, and then how we have to deal with them. That's my last observation.

Thank you very much. It has been a very good meeting.

Sorry, Mr. Kamp, you've been waiting patiently.

[Randy Kamp, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission, BC]

I know we are pressed for time. I also want to thank you for your good presentations and echo my colleague's comments that it has been great to be here. It has been too short a time, and we need to come back.

Let me just conclude by saying, so there's no confusion on this, that as the parliamentary secretary to the minister, I can assure you that our current Minister of Fisheries and Oceans--and I think the ones before him, but the current one, I know, for sure--is a very enthusiastic supporter of the seal hunt. There shouldn't be any confusion about that, and we're going to wrestle with some of the ways in which we can support you, in the best way and in the ways that are also legal, and I think we will be wrestling with the issue of observers.

I had a question or two about that, but I don't think I need to take time for those. But I did want to thank you as well.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

We have one more hand. I can't believe it, but we have another person who wants to ask us another question. I'm going to allow, that Mr. Manning.

But before I do, Mr. Boudreau, you mentioned a letter from the Fur Institute of Canada. I think it was sent to the Minister of International Trade, Minister Emerson. I was just wondering if it would be possible for the committee to get a copy of that letter. That's all.

[Paul Boudreau]

The letter was sent to the Honourable David Emerson six weeks ago, to ask him for his support. The council would appreciate receiving a reply as quickly as possible to get the ball rolling so that we can be effective during the next hunting season.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

Thank you. Can we get a copy of that?

[Paul Boudreau]

I will send a copy to Mr. Blais, who can give it to you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

Okay. Merci.

Very quickly, please, Mr. Manning.

[Fabian Manning, Conservative, Avalon, NL]

Very quickly, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for allowing me to do this.

To Mr. Cyr, could you tell us how much of your income percentage-wise you obtained from the sealing part of the fishery, and was that insurable earnings? Under EI, is that insurable earnings, and how much was your percentage?

[Jérémie Cyr]

Yes. They are insurable earnings.

[Fabian Manning, Conservative, Avalon, NL]

Okay.

The income from sealing in Newfoundland and Labrador is not insurable. That's something I wanted to clarify; it's not insurable in our province.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

Thank you very much to our witnesses.

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

Could we just explore that question?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

Boys, the Newfoundlanders, I'm telling you!

Very quickly, to get a clear answer here, I think the question was on employment insurance.

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

There are self-employed fishers. Of course, in the EI system, there's a labour stamp, a labour claim, and a fisher's claim. Can you use sealing income for the purposes of making a fishing claim?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

Mr. Boudreau, can you shed some light on this?

[Jérémie Cyr]

It depends on the fishers. For owners, the answer is no; for employees, the fishermen's helpers who work on the boats, the answer is yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

Thank you, gentlemen.

I'm going to adjourn this quickly and ask our next group of presenters to come forward.