Thank you for your question.
This project involves acquiring knowledge and developing lobster fishing in zones where abundance signals are present and increasing, and where the resource is already being commercially exploited to a certain extent. Moreover, these zones cover large areas.
The tool used to implement the project is exploratory fishing. This involves a cautious approach that will give us the chance to see whether the resource can support additional commercial harvesting in a sustainable way. The approach takes a cautious stance in that exploratory fishing licences may not be reassigned. In other words, they remain in effect for only one year and they must be renewed. Any negative signals may lead the department to revise its plan. These zones have already been exploited. We already had information on the presence of the resources and indicators of lobster abundance.
The policy makes this possible.