Fisheries committee  Short enough.

Fisheries committee  I should clarify. We don't go out and regulate and inspect those vessels. We regulate the construction of them. With larger vessels, we go out and check on them; we monitor them. Luc, I'll let you give some of the precision about vessel length.

Fisheries committee  Just on your first point, I don't believe I have any written records of having put specific statements on paper with respect to vessel length. I don't have that in my recollection.

Fisheries committee  As I said, I don't think I have any records that would specify dates or natures of conversations.

Fisheries committee  There's nothing in writing that I can recall. With regard to the construction or the putting in place of changes to vessels, they are not required to report to Transport Canada.

Fisheries committee  The vessel owner is responsible.

Fisheries committee  That's correct. It's their judgment.

Fisheries committee  Certain vessels of certain sizes, yes.

Fisheries committee  I talk to DFO three to four times a week about various issues. What I would say is that, as a safety regulator, we obviously have our points of view, which we share with DFO. They may or may not choose to believe, accept, or act on those. Every department is faced with a lot of pressures in terms of workload.

Fisheries committee  It's difficult to say. It would depend very much on the size of the port. I should highlight that Transport Canada's major role is with larger vessels. Many of the small ports are using speedboats and things, which are not something we have a responsibility to regulate.

Fisheries committee  A decision to make a modification to a vessel is made by an individual fisher and doesn't require approval. However, if you make a modification that's going to have an impact on your stability, you then have to get your vessel looked at again. It would be after the fact. For example, if you made a modification that would negatively impact stability, Transport Canada would identify that it was not acceptable and would work with the fisher to identify what would need to be done to get the stability of the vessel into an acceptable state.

Fisheries committee  Only if it's going to have an impact on stability.

Fisheries committee  Any reasonable fisher would. If you are adding weight or changing your vessel, it's going to make a stability difference. It's something inherently you would be aware of, whereas something like adding a railing might not be significant. The staff are around in the ports all the time, and they certainly have conversations on a daily basis with fishers.

Fisheries committee  We're not monitoring ports, we're monitoring vessels. In terms of inspectors, I have at the current moment 367.

Fisheries committee  No, that's for the country.