Thank you, Mr. Chair.
You'll be receiving a series of documents explaining lobster fishing in Gaspésie. You must know what this is about. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, there are many disparities between the different areas. Gaspésie is a special area, as may be the case elsewhere.
The first document is entitled “Lobster Fishing Profile on the Gaspé Peninsula,” which you can read in English. The document is very short. It describes our organization, the type of fishing that we do and how we coped with the closure of the lobster fishery in Gaspésie in 2018 as a result of the presence of a whale 18 kilometres from the coast.
The second document contains proposed changes. We'll discuss this matter in more detail. You should be aware that, if the measures included in the management measures for right whale protection applied in 2018 don't change, communities and fishers could suffer serious economic effects in 2019, in the event that whales are again found near the coast.
We must explain that, in 2018, at the start of the discussions between the fishers and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, or the DFO, regarding the management of right whales, the fishers proposed a necessary cohabitation with the whales. We find that won't be able to absorb the costs involved in the aerial surveillance carried out by the DFO in 2018 for much longer.
The fishers should be able to help develop the measures that will protect the whales and should play a very important role in this process. To that end, we're proposing six changes.
First, the current measures focus on a single principle, which is the protection of whales. We think that a second principle must be added to improve the socio-economic situation, namely, the principle of cohabitation between right whales and populations living off the sea.
Our second proposal, explained on page 2, is the creation of an operating corridor for lobster fishers to a maximum depth of 120 feet. We'll gradually bring the traps toward the coastline and at a lower depth according to the presence of whales. In Gaspésie, the lobster fishery is extremely close to the coast, as you can see in document 1. When we finish fishing, we're stuck to the shore. When a whale is seen at a depth between 130 feet and 71 feet, the traps will be brought toward the coast at a depth of 60 feet. If a whale enters the area where the depth is between 70 feet and 40 feet, the traps will be brought toward the coast at a depth of 30 feet. If the whale enters the area where the depth is less than 40 feet, the fishers will remove their traps from the water. Lobster fishers have never had the opportunity to see a right whale up close, at least in Gaspésie, since they fish near the coast.
Our third measure is to reduce the closure duration of the dynamic area to three days if no whales are present in the area observed. When the department closes a dynamic area, the closure lasts 15 days. In our view, this is too long. In 2018, the whale that caused the closure of the fishery was 18 kilometres away from the coastline. It stayed in the area for only two days before retreating from the coast and joining its group. In a case such as this one, a 15-day closure is far too long.
Our fourth proposal is to suspend fishing in a dynamic area if three whales are present at the same time. According the measures in Canada, a dynamic area must be closed as soon as a single whale is present. In the United States, three whales need to be present. If I recall correctly, the American government asked Canada to apply the United States marine mammal protection act. As a result, why should we be more Catholic than the Pope? Why don't our measures align more closely with the United States' measures, instead of being so stringent?
Our fifth proposal is to reduce the grid size applied in the closure of dynamic areas. The grids help manage snow crabs during the moult. The grids are six nautical miles wide by ten nautical miles long. We think that the grids are much too long, since they reach the coast. When a whale is 18 kilometres off the coast, the grids close completely. This affects the coast and prevents lobster fishers from fishing. Yet the whale is 17 kilometres from the lobster fishing gear.
Our sixth and final proposal is to reduce the number of grids closed during the closure of a dynamic area. When a whale is present in one of the grids, the entire dynamic area is closed. The department closes eight grids adjacent to the grid where the whale is located, in order to give the whale sufficient space to swim. We think that the closed area, which covers about 50 square kilometres, is much too large. We're well aware that a whale that approaches the coast will return to the group. The results of the analyses carried out by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in 2018 are as follows. The group is based in the centre of the gulf. A few whales separate from the group to roam around, but they return to the group one or two days later.
Why should fishers be penalized so severely and for so long? You should know that, in 2018, the lobster fishers in Gaspésie were the only ones who suffered such serious consequences. They incurred operating losses of $2,774,000, which meant a negative impact in the field of about $7 million. This impact is enormous for a medium-sized fishing industry. If the whales arrive in the gulf around the third week of fishing, so around May 15, it would be catastrophic for the fishers.