Fisheries committee  Yes, we might as well put out a nuisance cod fishery thing too and do away with all the cod fish, because they eat the $5 lobsters and $3 or $2 crab, and all this. It's an industry that we're talking about. I'm here representing the sealing industry, the licensed sealers, and t

Fisheries committee  Yes.

Fisheries committee  You say it would be a problem, but here we are in the harp seal harvest where we don't use the full animals. What would be any different with the grey seal harvest? This meat thing is new to me. If the market is there for the meat, then it can be harvested. Some problems have to

Fisheries committee  If you're talking about just meat, you would yield 100 to 200 pounds.

Fisheries committee  Yes. The biggest part of the weight is the skin and the blubber, the fat. When you get down to the carcass on an 800-pound animal, you're only talking probably 300 pounds, 400 pounds.

Fisheries committee  Yes, that's all that's marketable right now to harvest. In taking those, how long would it be before it affected the overall herd? What's your estimation? How many would you have to take out and how long would it take before you saw a drop in the overall herd?

Fisheries committee  Yes, I have a quick comment. The grey seals that are being harvested are juvenile seals; they're only six to eight weeks old. How many of those will you have to harvest and how long will it take before there is any effect on the herd, before it would come down in size?

Fisheries committee  We've been on islands before and have harvested the seals. We take them right off, take them to the boats, and do the biggest part of the processing on the boats. There's no damage. There's nothing left on the island. Everything is taken off. If going onto the island is going to

Fisheries committee  To give you a bit of background, I'm originally from Newfoundland--actually, Bill's area. I'm the guy without a home, as they called me at one time at DFO.

Fisheries committee  Anyway, this is the whole problem. You guys can go back and say, yes, there should be a harvest of grey seals. But if you're not going to take down the areas and allow us where the seals are, you can set whatever quotas you want, open it up, but if you aren't allowed where the pr

Fisheries committee  I am the vice-president of the North of Smokey Fishermen's Association. Today I am here representing the sealers of Cape Breton. I don't have anything written down, but I'm going to shoot off the hip. Anyway, I'm here representing the sealers. We do have licensed sealers in Nova