Fisheries committee  I may have the time frame a little bit wrong, but we were engaged in dialogue with first nations from the local area of southwest Nova about two years ago for about a year trying to talk this through. It was very slow going. We didn't come out of it with any agreements or anythin

Fisheries committee  I think it could help. At some point, indigenous and non-indigenous people have to reach out to one another also. Certainly, DFO has a part to play. At some point, we have to get to a point where we can all talk about how we move forward with this and be at the same table. I'm

Fisheries committee  I think that, at this point, we do not need dockside monitoring. We have enough things in place, like logbooks and checks and balances. Even from a provincial standpoint, there are some checks and balances there with buyers and how much product they're buying. We have a good ide

Fisheries committee  It's going to take a while. It has taken 21 years to this point to get first nations involved in the commercial fishery through the Marshall initiative and some other programs. Moving forward, I think the first nations will get more access, but there are a couple of nuances ther

Fisheries committee  I think Mr. Morrissey brought up earlier that over the years DFO has its their budget cut drastically. At times, they have very little presence on the water. Their working platforms are old and antiquated...the boats. There needs to be a huge cash infusion, on the C and P side in

Fisheries committee  This actually really started to happen right after Marshall when especially the out-of-season FSC fishery was being developed, even though the FSC fishery pertained to Sparrow. In the early 2000s, as today, every year licences had to be negotiated between DFO and first nations t

Fisheries committee  It could have, but still you have to make do with what you have. Yes, there were probably more officers in the field 20 years ago than there are today, but you have to adjust. You can't just give up your responsibility for what you're supposed to be doing in terms of enforcement.

Fisheries committee  You're absolutely right. The reason this activity has grown is that it is so lucrative. There are a lot of concerns there. It's not just the cash deals, which are in the millions and millions of dollars—

Fisheries committee  Out of season, absolutely. The other thing is that enough lobsters are being landed that aren't being accounted for that it could have a detrimental effect on how biologists and scientists look at how they put their numbers together when they assess the stock, for example.

Fisheries committee  Absolutely, it could. It could lead to conditions on our MSC for a five-year period. We don't have it yet, but it could lead to that.

Fisheries committee  If I could I would like to expand on Mr. Clarke's earlier point about the things that happened this summer and the reason they got out of hand. It wasn't simply that DFO stopped doing its due diligence this summer. Over years, if not decades, it has just slowly and surely pulled

Fisheries committee  Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for the opportunity to speak before the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. My name is Bernie Berry. I am president of the Coldwater Lobster Association. Our association was established five years ago and we represent approximately 20

Fisheries committee  I can only relate some of the conversations we had with the local staff of DFO at the local area level, and there it's the same thing: They want more officers. They don't have enough to go around to carry out all their duties, so there is a concern. It's getting better—

Fisheries committee  —but I think we're still not to that point where we can say—

Fisheries committee  I can't. The only thing I want to point out is that we're not there right now. Whether we were there 10 years or 20 years ago I can't say, but we're not there now.