Thank you.
Today, the closures have had little impact on the Prince Edward Island harvesters, but considering there's really only two years of historical data, the PEIFA is aware their distribution could shift based on their food source. This shift could put the whales in direct conflict with P.E.I. fishing grounds.
To monitor the impact on the industry in coastal communities, the PEIFA is preliminarily proposing the following management measure changes. Some of these have been overlapping with those of the Maritime Fishermen's Union as well.
The first one that we have is one that was mentioned by the MFU, and that is depth. To our understanding, the North Atlantic right whales have historically not been spotted in areas with less than 20 fathoms of water. The PEIFA proposes that no closure occur within 20 fathoms unless there is actually a whale spotted in the 20-fathom area of a dynamic closure zone.
Second, in terms of gear type, the PEIFA has harvesters in three different LFAs and the physical oceanography of the areas results in different gear configurations being used by different fishers. There's a document that was already passed out that lists the current standardized configuration, but what the PEIFA is proposing is that gear configuration include some options to better suit the fishing location, the limitations in that area and the physical oceanography of the area. This could include the option of weak links rather than sinking ropes. All species harvested and locations that they're being harvested from should not be painted with the same brush considering that they are all dealing with different scenarios.
Third is dynamic closures near coastal areas. The current grids being used for dynamic closures are all the same size, so this means closing large areas for one whale. While this seems fine in areas with less fishing activities, it could be modified in coastal areas where the abundance of harvesters vastly increases. If the 20-fathom exclusion zone is not an option, then the PEIFA proposes to reduce the size of the grids as they approach coastal areas as a gradient to reduce the amount of coastline affected by closures.
Fourth is the simplified reporting of marine mammals. In the past year, there were a number of different phone numbers and email addresses that needed to be used to report a marine mammal sighting. We could improve the reporting of this if it was simplified and the fishers had simply one phone number to call rather than seven.
Fifth is the snow crab opening. Currently, the snow crab fishery opens the same day for all harvesters. PEIFA proposes that this be flexible to open when it is safe for those who are ready and are clear of ice. This is a quota fishery, so the sooner fishers are on the water, the sooner they can catch their quota and be off the water prior to the arrival of the whales.
Sixth, on static and dynamic closures, the PEIFA proposes that all closures be managed through dynamic closures with no static closure zone. Alternatively, the PEIFA proposes that the static closure happen when a whale is confirmed to be entering the Gulf of St. Lawrence and not a chosen date based on historical data. In 2018, there was approximately one month of closed time in the static zone prior to the arrival of the whales. This closure should be minimized.
Seventh is the removal of traps in a dynamic area. We're proposing that this allowance be extended to 72 hours.
Eighth is the dynamic closure time. Based on the experience in 2018, the PEIFA feels the 15-day closure could be shortened to as little as five days.
Ninth is lost gear. PEIFA would like to see a mechanism to report found gear to offset the numbers presented in terms of lost gear. We run a gear retrieval program here in P.E.I., and all gear that is lost is actually partially found as well but that's not included in the reporting system.
Tenth, the PEIFA is requesting that DFO have a plan in place to promote factual information getting out to the media on what's being done in Canada.
Eleventh, 2019 will be the third year the whales are in the gulf, assuming they arrive, with mitigation measures only in place in 2018. Assuming this is an ongoing issue, the PEIFA feels flexibility needs to be built into the plan to ensure the health of the North Atlantic right whale population while minimizing the impact to the harvesters and coastal communities.
Twelfth, and finally, is the number of whales in a grid to urge a closing. We're suggesting that there be three or more whales present before a grid is closed.