Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm sure that all colleagues from all parts of eastern Canada and indeed all Canadians from all coasts would be concerned and impacted by the fact that in the province of New Brunswick the fishing industry has just lost probably $80 million. Literally thousands of fishermen and fish plant workers have lost their jobs. In the province of Quebec, upwards of $40 million to $50 million from the regional economy of the Gaspé has now been eliminated. There is no federal government assistance package in place, and there does not appear to be any coming. Decisions were made that suggest the government was somewhat negligent in its order of its management plans. Those did not take into consideration conservation needs in the past at times when scientific advice was presented to them to suggest that conservation measures would be needed to prevent the 63% loss of quota that has now been experienced in one year.
I'm sure all of us take the concerns of those who face that impact, particularly in the Gaspé and in New Brunswick, and will want to act on them in some way, shape, or form. I certainly would not want to be the one to go back to either the Gaspé or New Brunswick and explain to them that this committee had an opportunity to study this issue and to provide an outlet for fishermen, for processors, for plant workers, for provincial governments, and for other stakeholders to be involved in this inquiry, but we chose not to. This is an economic issue of huge concern, with no immediate relief in sight.
From a conservation point of view, I for one would certainly want to hear from DFO scientists to understand exactly what advice they did indeed provide the minister in the last several years regarding conservation requirements, to be able to maintain quota or at least stabilize quota and to allow for, if required, a responsible and organized quota reduction over a period of years, as opposed to imposing a 63% cut in one year.
I'd also like to hear from those who are impacted and who feel that certain licensing decisions were taken that impacted negatively upon them. As you know, I do indeed still have a motion before this committee specifically to study area 23 and area 24 crab. The events of area 12 in particular, as well as, in fairness, the marketing issues in Newfoundland and Labrador seem to have superseded a study on just area 23 and area 24. When I tabled that earlier motion, the events in Newfoundland and Labrador were still developing or rolling out. There was no decision at that point in time on area 12 in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Circumstances certainly have overtaken.
We now have a major crisis in the crab industry in particular, for which very little or no relief is being offered, and there is absolutely no outlet for anyone to be able to adequately discuss their concerns. I thought this committee would have been an excellent venue for them to identify the problems and propose their solutions. To allow this to occur, I will indeed suggest an amendment, since it does not appear that there are enough votes, that there is enough support around the table to be able to get that proper airing for those impacted individuals.
Again I just want to stress how serious this matter is, how significant it is, a failure of this committee and its members to stand up and allow the crab fishermen who are impacted by this, the processors who are impacted by this, the plant workers who are impacted by this, the communities that are impacted by this, and the regions that are impacted by this.... Not to allow that to occur, in my opinion, is irresponsible.
This is a new circumstance that was not available to us at the start of the parliamentary session at the beginning of March. It is now before us. To deny that it exists and simply say we have other business to attend to because we decided on it earlier shows that we don't really recognize the seasonal nature of this fishery. When new information is presented to us that was not available to us before, we don't have the option of waiting six or seven months to be able to study it. The realities of the situation are occurring right now, as we speak.
So I will indeed propose a friendly amendment to my own motion to try to garner enough support to be able to help these people in these regions in a time of absolute crisis. To get enough support, I will--