Fisheries committee  Very briefly—and I think Ms. Giffin also alluded to the same idea—there should have been some kind of co-management structure with the U.S., so that if there are any measures taken in Canada, some similar measures are taken in the the U.S. so that we can tackle the same issues at the same time.

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the committee for allowing us to present today. My name is Martin Mallet. I'll be sharing my time today with Louis Ferguson, the assistant director of our R and D branch, Homarus Inc. I'll be speaking in French. The decision to completely close the mackerel fishery affected our members, both commercial fishers and bait fishers.

Fisheries committee  I'll give part of the answer and then I'll pass it to my colleague Mathieu. I'll give you an example. There is no better risk mitigation measure than not having any lobster traps or snow crab traps in the water when whales are around. We know that our fishing seasons for lobster, for instance, and the closeness to shore, help us 99.99% of the time to not be in the way of any whales.

Fisheries committee  I'll just add to that. We have the capacity within our snow crab industry to finish most of our quota in about six weeks. By imposing these closures, we're extending the season by one or two weeks in general. This is from the experience of the last few years. There is a way to tweak it a bit.

Fisheries committee  No. I think the U.S. MMPA is a U.S. initiative only and it is being imposed on all countries except the U.S.

Fisheries committee  Just to go a bit further, I think what the U.S. MMPA protocol brings us into now—and this is going to be online, I think, in 2023—is that there's going to be a constant threat. It's kind of like a sword of Damocles hanging over our head with regard to all the fisheries across Canada and any potential issues we may have in terms of interactions with all kinds of marine mammals.

Fisheries committee  Yes, for sure. If you look at data comparing the way we are handling the right whale issue in Canada with how things are going right now in the U.S. with respect to the situation in the lobster fishery, the industry in the U.S. and NOAA are looking at us, even as we speak, for examples of how they could go about maybe decreasing potential dangers for their whales down there.

Fisheries committee  I think the weak rope discussion is a discussion that started a few years ago. We feel as though we are part of a conversation and part of a consultation process, but we will see, when things come down to the actual decision at some point, whether or not these measures are imposed.

Fisheries committee  Mathieu, do you want to answer that one?

Fisheries committee  Absolutely. I think Mr. Côté's idea is excellent. In some cases, we have gone beyond the way things were in 2018 in terms of the inshore lobster fishery. There are still risks that a similar situation will recur, even with the inshore closure protocol. This summer, on one or two occasions, the fishers from Îles-de-la-Madeleine had to go and fish closer to shore, where the water is less than 10 fathoms deep.

Fisheries committee  That's a great question. I think when we started putting measures in place in 2018, we basically started by using a sledgehammer to kill a fly. Now year after year we've been trying to optimize our measures and refine them so that as we move forward, we continue protecting the right whales as best we can.

Fisheries committee  On the subject of communications, I think that in the case of this issue, we need to have a full-time strategy. As soon as there is an attack on the Canadian industry, whether it be snow crab or lobster, a team should be ready to respond quickly, based on facts, obviously. In my presentation, I did mention that there is a positive story to tell here in Canada, about everything we have done.

Fisheries committee  Yes, absolutely. Really emphasizing the social and economic consequences of all these measures will perhaps be part of the next steps, in my opinion. Our various fisheries have been affected for several years, since 2016, 2017 and 2018. One effect it would have is to emphasize the importance of the sacrifices the fishing industry in general has had to make to try to coexist with the whales.

Fisheries committee  I am going to answer part of the question and then turn the mic over to my colleague, Mr. Noël. Yes, of course, as a biologist, I can confirm that since 2017 alone, we have learned a lot about whale behaviour. We now know that when they are in a feeding phase, they tend to congregate in a region where food is plentiful.

Fisheries committee  I think we are not entirely ready. Take the example of depth limits that we managed to put in place a few years ago. There is an entire process of peer review through DFO's review system. I am talking about the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, the CSAS. In this case, I think we should go a bit further on the science.