Fisheries committee  Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. This year's capelin consultations have not been held yet. Last year, they were held in March. This year, the advisory committee's consultations are scheduled for April 25, in just over a week.

Fisheries committee  Since the fishery is managed by my colleague Tony Blanchard, I would ask him to answer this question, please. Thank you.

Fisheries committee  It is clear that our data for capelin are fairly limited, so we are trying to make improvements in that regard. Currently, our capelin data come from reported commercial landings, a fishery performance index derived from commercial landings of the 4R seiner fleet in Newfoundland

Fisheries committee  No, not right now.

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chair, I'd like to thank Mr. Morrissey for the question. For the capelin fishery, it's a total quota that takes into account the entire 4RST division. Since capelin—

Fisheries committee  Yes. Mr. Chair, I'd like to thank Mr. Morrissey for the question. Only two fishers harvest weir. They are based in an area where there are no other capelin fishers. The closest fishers are in the 4T division, to be precise. The other fishers in Quebec are in the 4S division, in

Fisheries committee  Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to that. Mr. Blanchard may have the information for the entire 4S fishery. Can you answer that, Mr. Blanchard?

Fisheries committee  I'd like to thank Mr. Sargent for his question. The work required to assess a fish stock is quite extensive. Data is processed in the fall and after that, several data analyses and validations are done. The science assessment process involves researchers who validate the informa

Fisheries committee  I'd like to add that my team was in contact with the fishers on Sunday, and they indicated that the capelin had not yet arrived in the area and had not yet begun to roll in. I have not heard anything since Sunday, though.

Fisheries committee  I thank the member for his question. The team of scientists is certainly quite big. However, because there are many species of fish, when you look into issues like the capelin, you certainly—

Fisheries committee  I would say that the overall number is 150 to 160 employees for the Quebec region only.

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chair, I thank the member for his question. I'd like to come back to this. I mentioned earlier that in the past we didn't have an abundance indicator. However, I mentioned efforts we've made in recent years to integrate data on 4R seiner landings and shrimper bycatch of ca

Fisheries committee  As I said, things are getting better. We use the commercial survey in the multi-species survey that's done in the various areas. We will continue to improve the indicators.

Fisheries committee  I'm sorry, but I don't have this information with me.

Fisheries committee  Yes.