Thank you, Chairman Rodney and members of the committee. I'll introduce myself. My name is Doug Cameron, and for the last 14 years I've been the executive director of the licensed snow crab fishers of the Province of Prince Edward Island. I only learned of the meeting on Tuesday, via a colleague, and after a few phone calls I managed to wiggle myself onto this committee.
I've been impressed with the line of questions you've asked our predecessors, and I look forward to answering any of the questions you may have.
I've enjoyed these 14 years working with the fishermen, and while the relationship with them has been rewarding, I'm afraid to say--or want to say--that the relationship with DFO, while it started off to be a good relationship, and fruitful at times, for the last seven to ten years has been frustrating and indeed at times exasperating.
My major concern is the financial viability of our 28 members. I see it just going down and down. I'm concerned with the sustainability of the resource and the way that science has been providing information. I'm concerned about the process of ministerial decision-making, how that happens and how we're left out of it. I could talk about that.
I'm also interested to make sure you realize that while sharing has been imposed upon us, the Province of Prince Edward Island did not object to the sharing. Our objection really is to when the stocks go down, the pressure that's going to be put on the resource. But as I say, we're not objecting to the sharing.
I was present in the office when Minister Thibault, at the time, announced that a 15% sharing would be given to non-traditionals and that it would be contingent upon...the associations that were going to enjoy this 15% for a period of one or two years had to come back with a plan so that they would get rid of their sharing and have a system where the licences would be given out on a permanent basis to fishermen. What that means to us, really, is that instead of having 800 or 1,000 lobster fishermen putting pressure on the minister, 15, 20, or 30 fishermen would be welcomed into our organization on a permanent basis. We're not trying to recover the sharing; we just want to see it better controlled.
The lobster fishery has been a successful fishery. Why? Because it has a limited access; the numbers are limited.
As I said, I'll be pleased to answer your questions, and I hope you will ask some that enable me to expand upon some of my remarks.
Thank you.