Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our witnesses, especially for the welcome you have provided us. And thanks to Mr. Blais, who, whenever he mentions a possibility of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans travelling to the Magdalen Islands, finds not much difficulty getting his colleagues to willingly and enthusiastically come on board. This is our second trip in about two years, isn't it, Mr. Blais? I'm delighted to be back again and to feel so welcome.
I'm going to share my time with Mr. MacAulay, but I have three questions I want to explore with you.
You mentioned the jurisdictional role between the federal and provincial governments, and you mentioned the pilot project, the jurisdictional devolution that occurred in the early 1980s in terms of fisheries management. Could you provide some clarity for the committee members as to whether you thought that situation was positive or negative?
In my conversations with fishers from the Gaspé area they weren't too enthusiastic about provincial control over fisheries management. It created some problems. Could you relay exactly how it impacted here in the Magdalen Islands?
My second question concerns the management measures put in place for area 22, the Magdalen Islands lobster fishery. Is this a closed fishery, in the sense that whatever you do in terms of conservation you see the benefits of? In other words, do you have any competitors or intrusions, so that sometimes your conservation efforts are not necessarily enjoyed by you? Is this a shared fishery? I guess that would be my question. Are you independent, in the sense that you see the consequences--positive or negative--independently of the measures that you put in place in this particular lobster fishing area?
Finally, one management technique that has not really been raised here yet is licence retirement. Do you see a value for the fleet you have here on the Magdalen Islands? Is there a need for licence retirement?