Commercial fishery continues to be a real focus for the department. There is no question that more value can come out of the recreational fisheries. Charter fishing is one thing we're certainly looking at and something on which we really look forward to the advice of this committee in your study, something that really is development.
Enforcement is a challenge in the recreational fishery. It's a challenge everywhere—I won't speak specifically to tuna fishery enforcement—but generally with respect to the recreational fishery. You have thousands of participants involved. We have very specific management rules, which I told you about, in lingcod and striped bass that is between 50 cm and 65 cm. There are 4,000 people out there on the Miramichi and in the southern gulf with their nets trying to figure that out. You only have one per day. We don't have an enforcement officer behind each tree watching them.
This is a challenge. It is something we continue to think about while looking for new ways to monitor. We require logbooks in the case of some of the bigger ones; input that comes back to the department or to the province at the end of the season. There are actually prizes and incentives to do it.
Enforcement does take place. I have some stats that I can share with you. For example, in the Newfoundland salmon fishery or in the Newfoundland recreational fishery writ large we had 250 violations in 2014. In 2013 there was 70,000 hours of enforcement by guardians and by RCMP officers. Charges were laid, warnings were given, there were 59 salmon nets seized, 109 salmon seized, and 11 boats seized. So there is action taken.
We also work with Crime Stoppers and we have Report a Poacher websites that we're developing as well. It is an interesting and challenging issue in both the charter operations but also the recreational fishery generally.