Evidence of meeting #16 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was commercial.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
You and your colleagues would be very dedicated toward protecting the resource, first and foremost. Would that be a correct statement?
Commercial Fisherman, As an Individual
Yes. Normally, when you want to become a fisheries officer, it's because you are committed to protecting the resource. That's the fundamental mission of a fisheries officer: to protect fisheries management, the resource and fish habitat.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Okay. Thank you.
Does the Fisheries Act, and the resultant regulations from the act, cover off all the potential conditions of licence and season-opening specifics for fisheries operating in Canada?
Commercial Fisherman, As an Individual
Yes, to my knowledge, it covers pretty much all the fisheries in Canada.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Are you aware of any other agreements that may be signed or agreed to by the Government of Canada that may allow other fisheries to operate outside of what is in the Fisheries Act or the conditions of licence in the act and regulations?
Commercial Fisherman, As an Individual
I have no knowledge of that in my region.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Are you aware of, or have you heard of, any of this in other regions of eastern Canada?
Commercial Fisherman, As an Individual
Yes, I have heard that, in Chaleur Bay, in Gaspésie, agreements were made between Fisheries and Oceans Canada and indigenous communities without consulting other fishermen or other communities.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Would the fisheries officers in those areas have been trained or been provided the details of those agreements?
Commercial Fisherman, As an Individual
Honestly, I could not tell you, because it happened after my term as a fisheries officer. Since then, I have lost contact with my former colleagues.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Okay. Thank you.
Again, do you sense that organized crime may be involved in some of these illegal fisheries?
Commercial Fisherman, As an Individual
Yes, there is no doubt about that.
When there's money to be made, it attracts those who want to make money. There are people in this business who have fewer morals than others and who have no problem poaching and forming alliances with indigenous people whom the authorities are not bothering. It's like an alliance between “criminal” organizations that do not respect the law and indigenous fishermen.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Okay. Thank you.
I'll switch over to Mr. Hébert now.
Mr. Hébert, you talked about legal landings and dockside monitoring—I believe that's what you were referring to—or specific docks where off-loading takes place so that the catch can be monitored and reported. Do all the landings occur at those designated docks, or are there landings that occur at other docks where there is no monitoring?
Director general, Association des crabiers acadiens
That's exactly right: at designated docks, there are probably no illegal landings; illegal landings take place at undesignated docks.
These people have certain ways of doing things. For example, one boat will dock alongside another boat to transfer the crab. The other boat will then leave for an undesignated dock. That's how illegal landings are made. People can also go close to shore and place the goods in shrimp bags, which they will collect later. So there are several ways to make illegal landings.
We even heard there might be collusion with crab processors. One of my harvesters told me that if he went to a certain spot, 50% of his catch could go under the radar. He refused the offer. However, with a large quota like that, if there are several fishermen, 50% of the total catch can be landed illegally. To do that, you need to partner with a fish processing company.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Patrick Weiler
Thank you very much, Mr. Arnold.
Next, we're going to Mr. Morrissey for five minutes.
Liberal
Bobby Morrissey Liberal Egmont, PE
Thank you, Chair.
My first question is for Mr. Buote.
Mr. Buote, how long have you been fishing in LFA 25, which is the fall lobster fishery shared between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick?
Liberal
Bobby Morrissey Liberal Egmont, PE
Over that period, the catches were increasing for a period of time. Am I correct?
Liberal
Bobby Morrissey Liberal Egmont, PE
This past fall, as a fisher, what did you observe in terms of lobster landings in this fishery during the season that just closed?
Fisherman, As an Individual
Catches were down, I think, approximately 11% overall for all of the LFA. Mostly in the north end of the fishing area, they were down.
Liberal
Bobby Morrissey Liberal Egmont, PE
As a fisher and according to fellow fishers you may have spoken to, what would have been observed in this particular zone over the summer, prior to the season opening? Was there any lobster fishing going on?
Fisherman, As an Individual
Yes, there were thousands of traps out there this summer. I think there were traps out there in May until sometime in July.
Liberal
Bobby Morrissey Liberal Egmont, PE
Were DFO protection personnel advised by fishers of fishing occurring there and asked to check if it was following an authorized fishery?