Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
In Quebec, we see that our fishers have been exemplary in a number of ways, particularly by providing catch amounts and data, and by meeting the obligation to participate in the dockside monitoring program. Mr. Collin, president of the Regroupement des pêcheurs pélagiques professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie, has often come here to testify to that.
Why can't this obligation that Quebeckers have be extended to all fishers? That could provide more data quite quickly because the fishers are on the ground. Why are Quebeckers the only ones who are required to report on their catch?
When the Department of Fisheries and Oceans makes decisions on the Atlantic side, we often see that those decisions severely penalize Quebeckers. In Quebec, the small fishing economy and small boats support all coastal villages. However, it is these small boats that are often penalized. In addition, Quebeckers are afraid that the larger boats will reproduce what happened 30 years ago. Those are the two things Quebeckers are seeing right now. They are very concerned about that.
How can the situation be improved in the short term?
I emphasize the importance of taking steps in the short term, as it is in the short term that boats will be moored for good. It will be over. It's already over for a number of them.
Mr. Williams, Mr. Napier, Mr. DeMarco, how can things be done differently in the short term?