Fisheries committee  No, it's not supposed to be. The first thing they talk about is that if you have a company, you could probably get around it and do it, but you can't pay a labour stamp, not if you're taking a percentage, not really. It's supposed to be hourly. If you go out and have a two-day fishery and you pay a crew member $5,000 or $6,000, how much wage are you going to give him per hour?

Fisheries committee  Yes. If percentage-wise it's the same as your fishery and you take it as a part of income, although it was only involving one week's earnings, how can you put down hours?

Fisheries committee  But you have the government giving them a permit to go out and do it.

Fisheries committee  It's from a recreation point of view. In our fleet, vessels over 35 feet are not so big a problem. You have everyone who has a job and they're now in under-35-footers and speedboats that participate in the seal hunt. Some that are under 35 feet would be more recreational sealers than full-time sealers.

Fisheries committee  Yes, that's right.

Fisheries committee  Well, not give them any permits to go there would be a first start. If you haven't got a permit, once they're seen out there DFO can arrest them right away, before anything starts to happen. As long as they have permits, they have just as much right to be on the ice as I have.

Fisheries committee  Well, they were charged $1,000 each for coming too close.

Fisheries committee  Yes, they returned last year.

Fisheries committee  You mean ban the hakapik?

Fisheries committee  Well, probably they would, but you know, they're only looking for reasons. Whatever reason they can get.... They're still out there showing a picture of the whitecoat, which haven't been killed since 1982. So if you stopped using the hakapik, they'd still show a video of you killing them with the hakapik.

Fisheries committee  Last year in particular, for my crew it worked out to about 20% of their overall income for the fishing season.

Fisheries committee  No, I did not say most people in the Magdalen Islands use rifles. In the Magdalen Islands, most people use a hakapik.

Fisheries committee  Protesters? No, they should not be allowed on the ice. What other thing can you go at and have someone interfering in your livelihood, stopping you from doing it? They're out there trying to stop you, and you're going around with a high-powered rifle on your back, or whatever. No, they should not be there.

Fisheries committee  Thirty metres.

Fisheries committee  I had an incident on the ice with those protesters. The next day, they had my name posted on the Internet, phone numbers, and whatever, and it went on for about a month, probably--phone calls, phoning my home, phoning my wife. They kept on coming, saying “Kill the grandkids” and “Skin you alive”, and things like that.