Thank you, Monsieur Blais. The pleasure is all ours.
As our guests can see, our membership is fairly passionate about this subject. Sometimes we feel a little boxed in and threatened by it, I think, but certainly I would like to convey our appreciation once again to all of you for coming here and having an open and frank discussion. Thank you also for hearing us at the Council of Europe at the Committee on the Environment this spring. Although we were a non-voting member, we were able to at least present a few points at that committee, and that was very much appreciated.
In terms of your list of questions, after speaking to our research people, we will give you a written answer to all of those. You should know that the TAC last year was 325,000 animals. Of the Quebec TAC or the Gulf of St. Lawrence TAC, 7,000 were the North Shore, and 18,000 were the Îles-de-la-Madeleine. The North Shore TAC was exceeded, but the overall TAC was not exceeded.
I'll ask for your understanding here, and I'm sure you can appreciate it in your own coastal communities, that the climate is changing. The ice has changed dramatically in the last decade or two here. It no longer comes at the same time of year; it's about two weeks ahead of time. It's no longer the same thickness or to the same extent as it used to be. Therefore, it is an issue of fluidity. The seals that are on the ice are in different places than they would have been a decade ago. Therefore, it does take some changing of circumstances in adapting to changing the TAC. However, the overall TAC, the total amount of animals allowed to be taken, was not exceeded.
I'll go to our next member. Mr. Manning.