Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good morning. My name is Jean-Guy Forgeron. I'm the senior assistant deputy minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. I am responsible for the department's strategic policy sector, which covers economics, indigenous and sectoral policy, international and

Fisheries committee  Thank you again, Mr. Chair, for the invitation to be here to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on Canada's fishing sector. Following my opening remarks, we will be happy to answer any of your questions. During these unprecedented and challenging times, DFO remains very much at the

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Then I'll conclude by saying that DFO will continue to work with its partners and stakeholders to build on the important work accomplished to date to support our vital fish and seafood industries. I welcome the questions of the committee.

Fisheries committee  I can't remember the exact date, but when it became very clear that there was a drop in demand for seafood products, as evidenced by prices at the wharf, in the case of the stabilization fund, one of the things we wanted to make sure happened was that processors were in the best

Fisheries committee  We have ongoing consultations with members of the industry—for instance, the Fisheries Council of Canada and the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance—both bilaterally and multilaterally on what the different segments of the industry require to address what's going on during thi

Fisheries committee  Whether or not they're going to be excluded from the fund is yet to be determined, Mr. Chair. Basically, the initial thought on the fund was to address pressures in the coastal fisheries that were federally regulated. As we announced the program and rolled it out, we've seen that

Fisheries committee  What we are definitely seeing, Mr. Chair, is really depressed prices at the wharf due to a decrease in demand for the product. In particular, lobster is one of those products. The price for lobster in the first quarter, for which we have the statistics, remained strong. Last year

Fisheries committee  I believe that is going to be one of the key pillars of the Canadian seafood stabilization fund, which will be administered by the regional agencies. One of the primary pillars of that program announced by the government is actually to increase storage. The desire is to increase

Fisheries committee  The objective, I would say, of the cold storage facilities under the Canadian seafood stabilization fund is to allow the processors to continue to buy the harvesters' product over the long run. What happens is that if processors and buyers find themselves in situations in which

Fisheries committee  The objective of the government is to establish a program that has national application, which would be of benefit to all sectors across the economy. Initiatives such as the Canada emergency response benefit and the Canada emergency wage subsidy are examples of such things. As th

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chair, I'm going to answer that question in two parts, and I'll try to be very quick. Seeing gaps in our sector, especially gaps with regard to the fish harvesters and share persons, who are organized in a very different way from the normal economy, we actually did the grant

Fisheries committee  The program that was originally announced had both the agriculture and agri-food sector and the fish and seafood sector included in it. The $50 million always envisioned both sides of the food community. Whether or not there will be a plan after the program rolls out.... I do no

Fisheries committee  We hope to be announcing the details of these programs in the not-too-distant future. We are working with our colleagues at ESDC to develop the programming for these initiatives. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans historically doesn't deliver these types of programs. We are w

Fisheries committee  At this point there is no plan to waive fishing licence fees. I believe that in the case of mooring fees at small craft harbours, those are applied by the small craft harbour authorities, not by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Is that correct, Sylvie?

Fisheries committee  When it comes to what we're doing for the EI system for the commercial fleet, that is actually limited to those who are participating in the fishers' benefits of the EI system, which are the owner-operators and the share persons. It actually doesn't apply to the—