Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for the witnesses travelling here from Newfoundland and Labrador. Your testimony before this committee is critical.
I'm taking a look at Fred Mifflin's press release—the former Minister of Fisheries and Oceans—from 1997, when he announced new entrants into this fishery, new inshore entrants. He's quite clear in terms of adjacency. He says, “Adjacency will be respected, which means that those who live near the resource will have priority in fishing it.”
It's quite clear. As your testimony has already outlined, there was no mention then of LIFO. So I have two questions. The first is, to what degree does the inshore fishery of Newfoundland and Labrador rely on other fisheries outside of shrimp? We know that cod, for example, has taken a hit in the last few years. The price of cod that a fisherman earns, I believe, is only about 50¢ a pound, and crab has also taken a hit. What other species, what other fisheries, do our traditional inshore fishermen have to rely on? That's the first question.
I want to get my questions out before you go because we have limited time. My second question is on these four points that you brought up, Mr. Hutchings, in terms of eliminating LIFO, adjacency, scientific assessment, and a plan to study the impact of climatic change. It is specifically in regard to number three, which is the scientific assessment of northern shrimp. My question is in terms of the management, in terms of the science right now on northern shrimp. We had a witness here from the seafood processors' association. You mentioned that we do assessments. DFO only has two scientists who are focusing on northern cod. Can you elaborate on why a scientific assessment is critical at this point?