Good day.
I'm a commercial fisherman in Inverness South Fishermen's Association. I fish off the western coast of Cape Breton. I fish lobster, tuna, mackerel and crab.
About 15 years ago, a large body of fish would come through here and the fishers could make a partial living from this resource. Now that body of fish is no longer here. What we're finding with the biomass here is that it's small. The fishermen can't seem to get a large fish anymore, even for tuna fishing during the summer and the fall, compared to 15 years ago.
We weren't surprised to see something happen with the mackerel, but we don't know if the big body of fish has moved north—if there is a bigger body—and if it's because of water temperature. Our water is getting warmer here.
We have a large body of small mackerel here, so the future looks good.
I would like to see more science, of course, with the mackerel. The problem we worry about when they have a total closure like this is the reopening and when that will happen, what will happen and how the resource will be divided up then.
Those are our main concerns here.
Thank you.