Finance committee  We haven't had a lot of dialogue on that, Mr. Chairman, for a particular species. I think where it get a little complicated is that certain areas have more allocations in certain species that makes a particular fishery more lucrative. We've targeted some species. We'd welcome the opportunity to be a pilot program on P.E.I.

Finance committee  We have a submission in and so far so good. We've met with them. The province seems to be working hard to get this together. Our application is number four. Obviously applications are going in, so we're going to be very positive about it. We're going to be aggressive. There are different areas that we're looking at.

Finance committee  Thank you very much. I would like to thank the chair for the opportunity for the Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association to present to the Standing Committee on Finance this morning. My name is Ian MacPherson, and I'm the executive director of the PEIFA. Today I'm joined by Captain Craig Avery, who has over 40 years of experience in the commercial fishery, harvesting species such as lobster, tuna, and herring.

Fisheries committee  I have just a very quick comment, and it's to everyone in the room there. I think one of the things we are really seeing is that there's a lack of science. For a variety of reasons, a lot of the science that was going on, either annually or every couple of years, has been lacking for a lot of major species.

Fisheries committee  I think the key is that we don't know the parameters of how they're assessed. Again, I'll go back to a point we made earlier. If conditions change within an MPA, is there going to be flexibility to relocate some of those zones for the best outcome for the fishery?

Fisheries committee  It's relative to a couple of previous questions. I think we have a situation here where maybe you have a good idea but it's a flawed execution. I would say that from our perspective, our perception on how this will roll out is that the decisions are being made on the fly, without proper transparency and dialogue with industry.

Fisheries committee  Thanks very much, Mr. Chair. I want to make the committee aware we do have one more person in the room off-camera—Laura Ramsay, our research and liaison officer—if there were a technical question that we needed to caucus on. On behalf of the Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association, I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans for the opportunity to present today on marine protected areas.

Finance committee  What we're proposing is a model that was used a few years ago in the lobster industry. An amount was established, and then there was a bidding process or a seeking of expressions of interest from those who wanted to sell out their licence at that amount. Then there was a formal process with DFO to officially retire that licence and take it out of the system for good.

Finance committee  The value of the licence was basically market value or close to it.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  We share a lot of those sentiments that the Federation of Agriculture just mentioned. We're seeing some of these international trade deals get close to closure—we hope—and the lobster industry is one of the main beneficiaries of some of those trade deals. We wouldn't want to see that lost in anything we gain in terms of lower taxation or duties in terms of export, by adding to our costs at the domestic side.

Finance committee  I just wanted to comment that, as I said in my opening remarks, our members are 1,300 independent businesses, so there's a huge private sector involvement. The other side of the equation is the processing sector. To process the lobster and the other species, there are six very viable plants.

Finance committee  Okay. I'll summarize. I apologize. At any rate, we have embarked on a rationalization program to eliminate groundfish and other licences, but we're having limited success. A federal contribution of $3 million toward the retirement of these licences, and $7.5 million toward the retirement of tuna licences, would have a significant positive impact on these fisheries.

Finance committee  Thank you, Chairman Easter, for the opportunity for the Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association to present to the Standing Committee on Finance this morning. My name is Ian MacPherson. I'm the executive director of the PEIFA. Today I am joined by our association president, Mr.

International Trade committee  —and we need them also, and we want to keep those jobs here in Atlantic Canada.