Fisheries committee  Yes, certainly. Overcrowding is an issue with us because of the increased size of vessels. The government, to my knowledge, looks at how many vessels we had 10 years ago and how many we have now. They ask why we don't have room. The thing of it is that the vessel size has increased significantly in all harbours, and the wharves weren't built for the size of vessels we have.

Fisheries committee  The role of the small craft harbours program in the operational expense is up in your face. I couldn't do it if it weren't for the small craft harbours program. I have a good relationship with my business manager. What we do, basically, is identify an operational problem and discuss it.

Fisheries committee  I'm sorry, could you clarify that for me?

Fisheries committee  We have never done a capital project as yet. With non-capital projects that we have done, I didn't really see any problem, to tell you the honest-to-goodness truth. We're very involved with the entire process. We're lucky that we can be that involved, but we push to be that involved.

Fisheries committee  Solutions to what problem?

Fisheries committee  All right. Our solution to our overcrowding is very self-explanatory. We need a larger facility. Our wharves are all basically crib structures. When they were built they were built to accommodate a vessel that was 36 feet in length and 10 to 12 feet in width. I don't know if any of you can picture this, but we berth our boats abreast of each other, so when the wharf was built, we had two fingers coming out—the main wharf and the fingers.

Fisheries committee  You did. Thank you.

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairperson. Thank you to the committee for the invitation and the chance to be here. I am Geraldine Nickerson and I'm the manager of the harbour authority of Woods Harbour in southwestern Nova Scotia. The harbour authority was incorporated in October 1995 but didn't commence business operations until January 1996.

Fisheries committee  You know what? I have that luxury. In terms of my day-to-day management, as I said, I am the manager of the harbour authority. I was elected by the fishermen. We had 182 eligible voters and I got 168 of the votes. We had a 100% turnout, and I'm happy to say that we did it, because I know it doesn't happen often.