Evidence of meeting #5 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 fishers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
President, Regroupement des pêcheurs pélagiques professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie
Yes. They have a good snow crab allocation.
Liberal
Serge Cormier Liberal Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Could they have given you priority and helped you with their allocations?
President, Regroupement des pêcheurs pélagiques professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie
Certainly.
President, Regroupement des pêcheurs pélagiques professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie
We asked for it at the outset, about five years ago, and they dug their heels in.
Liberal
Serge Cormier Liberal Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Why do they not want to do that?
Are you allowed to participate in that draw?
President, Regroupement des pêcheurs pélagiques professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie
No.
President, Regroupement des pêcheurs pélagiques professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie
Not at all.
We have never been members of the Regroupement des pêcheurs professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie. That is why we came together and formed our group.
President, Regroupement des pêcheurs pélagiques professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie
We are not members who left one group to form another. We were free, and we created a group.
Liberal
Serge Cormier Liberal Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Okay.
What is your solution in order to receive any kind of assistance from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans? How do you see that?
We agree that other fleets are having problems. As for the sharing of resources for snow crab—I hope I will have time to ask questions to Ms. Tremblay—it is true that we certainly want to help people in difficulty. I will always say this, regardless of what the fishing associations tell me: Getting these licences and resources is a privilege, not a right, and you have to try to manage them responsibly. So what do you expect? What would be your greatest Christmas present?
President, Regroupement des pêcheurs pélagiques professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie
We want to have the same fair treatment as other groups, as in the case of cod fishers a few years ago. We want the same fair treatment.
First, we would like to be able to meet the authorities.
Second, part of the crab allocation is also on our radar, especially today, because it belongs to a group that is very comfortable now.
Liberal
Serge Cormier Liberal Acadie—Bathurst, NB
That is perfect. Thank you, Mr. Collin.
I think I have only one minute of speaking time left.
Ms. Tremblay, I would like you to quickly confirm something.
I believe the crab fishers you represent are in area 17. Is that correct?
Liberal
Serge Cormier Liberal Acadie—Bathurst, NB
That's perfect.
I spoke earlier about the sharing that exists with inshore fishers of the snow crab resource. The resource was shared to help them at the time, and rightly so.
You spoke earlier about dockside landings. At the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, or DFO, there is a lot of talk—it is mostly scientists—about the need to have good science, good data to make informed decisions.
What I have always liked about the snow crab fishery is that there are dockside landings; that gives fishers control over prices, quotas, and so on. I believe you confirmed that earlier.
Why do you think that does not exist in the lobster fishery? How can we obtain reliable scientific data and know the lobster resource well if there is no dockside landing?
I would like a short answer, because I only have a few seconds left.
Fisherwoman, As an Individual
It is impossible to know without landing at the dock, as we do.
Why are there none? I do not know. We ask ourselves that question as well. Why would there be for crab and not for lobster? I do not know if it is because it was a smaller fishery before. Now, it must be said that lobster is as profitable as crab.
Dockside weighing is also done for halibut. However, that is not done for lobster.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Patrick Weiler
Thank you, Mr. Cormier.
The next speaker is Mr. Deschênes.
You have the floor for six minutes.
Bloc
Alexis Deschênes Bloc Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I will start with you, Ms. Tremblay.
You said that, on the Côte‑Nord, in area 18, you could not access an exploratory fishing licence. When you have a traditional crab licence, you can access an exploratory licence only if you have a class B crab licence. In the notices of interest, that condition is only in area 18, in your area.
Have you been able to get any answers from DFO as to why you were excluded on the Côte‑Nord?
Fisherwoman, As an Individual
I would like to clarify that our area is 17.
Yes, we did not get an answer. Some fishers still applied. Area 17 is crab and area 18 is lobster—
Bloc
Fisherwoman, As an Individual
Yes, that is right. According to your documents, it is area 18 for lobster.
Fishers nevertheless applied, even though it was stated that it could not be done. We have not received a response from DFO. When we call the Sept-Îles office, we are told that this is the directive and that it has to be applied. So we cannot apply.