Evidence of meeting #139 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was stock.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:50 p.m.
Director, Resource Management Operations, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
I'm prepared to speculate irresponsibly on that.
Thinking of the whole lobster market, I think the target size that harvesters generally aim for is somewhere around two pounds. That's a plate lobster.
4:50 p.m.
Director, Resource Management Operations, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Yes. I think the demand for that has been extremely high, so I don't know that there's necessarily much risk in that. They just enjoy great international markets. Having said that, there is a range of other products, such as canning and the Popsicle packs, but I think you get the variation that comes out with each trap haul. You get a mix within each pull that's going to have those ideal plate-sized lobsters, but you'll have other ones that are valuable that you would target for these other processes. I'm not aware that there's a risk at this point along those various processing and product chains.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
I'm sorry, Mr. Morrissey. You're right at your time limit.
Now we'll go to the Conservative side, with Mr. Calkins for five minutes or less, please.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
My goodness, Mr. Chair, thank you so much.
Thank you very much to the officials who are here. I'm from Alberta, so I have all kinds of coastal experience. I do enjoy the fisheries. I spend a lot of time on the west coast. My experience with the east coast is that recreational fishing isn't nearly as pervasive as it is on the west coast. Do people go out and recreationally put in lobster or crab traps?
4:55 p.m.
Director, Resource Management Operations, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
No.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
Is it that it doesn't happen at all, or that it doesn't happen...?
4:55 p.m.
Director, Resource Management Operations, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
There is no recreational lobster fishery. I think that's probably the best way to say that.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
Understood.
Can you tell me a little bit about whether the department has any information on the changes, if there are any, of the ocean currents and what effect that has on larval drift?
4:55 p.m.
Biologist, Shellfish Science, Newfoundland and Labrador Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Yes. I'll speak from my own experience and knowledge. There have been studies on things like particle drift. You have a simulation where you put some particles in the ocean off Labrador and see where they end up. There have been recruitment studies for various fish species, and what they generally show is the pattern of the Labrador current, where things tend to go from north to south. Something that starts off Labrador could end up on what's called the tail of the bank, for example. There are simulation studies on it.
Our oceanographic surveys monitor the strength of the current and the transport flow of the current in any given year. Those sorts of things are monitored and changes are reported, but I'm not an expert on the exact changes that are occurring.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
That's fair enough. You said that it's north to south. Is that right?
4:55 p.m.
Biologist, Shellfish Science, Newfoundland and Labrador Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Generally, the dominant Labrador current goes from the north toward the south.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
Do I understand correctly that the range of crab is actually expanding north?
4:55 p.m.
Biologist, Shellfish Science, Newfoundland and Labrador Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
No, I wouldn't conclude that the range of the snow crab is expanding north. The snow crab is more dominant on the eastern part of this map—in Newfoundland and Labrador. That's the biggest part of the range.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
Is the lobster showing any signs of greater numbers moving north?
4:55 p.m.
Manager, Fisheries and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Gulf Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
We do see the potential for an expansion of lobster habitat, not so much with currents, but with bottom temperature, as the bottom temperatures are more favourable to lobster.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
If the ocean currents are moving generally north to south, that would require a migratory movement of the animals as adults, would it not?
4:55 p.m.
Manager, Fisheries and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Gulf Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
I think the currents that Darrell is referring to are the predominant ocean flow, which is different from the actual overall temperature regime and thermal habitat that's available to these animals.
4:55 p.m.
Biologist, Shellfish Science, Newfoundland and Labrador Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
I'm sorry. We should clarify that the Labrador current is most applicable to the Newfoundland and Labrador region. The Gulf Stream current is fairly applicable to the Gulf of St. Lawrence region. It kind of takes a sharp left turn between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia and branches into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
Very good.
I know that this year we had a relatively successful year with the North Atlantic right whale not getting tangled up in anything, and I don't think any whales were lost. I know that in the previous years there had been some issues. We heard from fishermen here at the committee about the department's approach to closing down whole zones when a small area around the whales might actually suffice, as far as whale safety is concerned. What's the department doing in exploring those issues?
4:55 p.m.
Director, Resource Management Operations, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
I'm happy to speak to that. There were changes recently in what we call the static and dynamic closure regime, which I think folks are aware of, that went into place last year. We were very fortunate there. There were no mortalities, as far as we know.
There have been some changes this year. I think with reductions in the size of the static closures—the permanent closures have been reduced—they would still cover something like 90% of where the sightings were last year. As well, there's been some flexibility on very near-shore closures. Last year, closures ran right up to the shoreline. The view is that North Atlantic right whales in very shallow water are typically rare, and so that closed area moved off the shore. The view is that this would remain open, unless an actual whale showed up and then you would probably extend into shallow water. There's a little bit of flexibility compared to last year.
Certainly, all this gets to important concerns about preserving access to international markets, and stemming from concerns about marine mammal interaction.
5 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
Especially in an effort-based fishery, where the presence of a whale might close the fishery in an entire zone for a while....
The last question I have—
5 p.m.
Liberal
