Fisheries committee  Yes, that's pretty much true.

Fisheries committee  That would be very difficult to say. There are different types of lobster, and it's a very complicated calculation to do.

Fisheries committee  I wouldn't want to make any statement as to what that number would be. It's dependent on the size of the lobster, and where sold, and so on.

Fisheries committee  It's certainly a challenge to get workers. In 2008 we had 100 foreign workers who came from Russia and China. It's been very difficult this year just to get any LMOs, which are needed to get foreign workers. That process this year, I would suggest to you, has been delayed by anywhere from four to six weeks.

Fisheries committee  I'm glad you asked about value-added. It's truly a topic we could talk about for a long time. I mentioned high-pressure processing in my report. That's probably the newest technology that exists in the lobster business. Going back to Mr. Byrne's question about CCFI, one of the things we've been very successful at doing, with the support of CCFI and the vet college and the culinary institute here, is building markets for value-added high-pressure products.

Fisheries committee  Well, Clearwater would not go as much into a P.E.I. buy for canner lobsters.

Fisheries committee  Each individual processor would have to make the call as to what he thinks the lobster is going to be able to sell for in the marketplace.

Fisheries committee  Yes.

Fisheries committee  In my opinion, yes, that would be true. If you look at one of the regulations that was implemented last year.... P.E.I. always had a 30-day window; you couldn't buy on the wharf unless you had put an application in 30 days prior. I think the provincial government changed that last year to three days, and we didn't get anybody new on the wharf to buy last year.

Fisheries committee  In different areas we have different competitors. We buy in many different areas, so there are many different competitors. We probably have competition from everybody.

Fisheries committee  From the point of view of what advice I could give, I think you have to look at it in two different contexts. There is the short term, May 1, which is right around the corner. Something needs to be done before that date for fishers to be able to make a living, I believe. We want to highlight the fact that something needs to be done in the short term.

Fisheries committee  There's a canner lobster, which means that it weighs less than one pound.

Fisheries committee  Different areas would have different ratios, but I would suggest it's pretty close to 60-40, for sure—maybe higher than that, maybe 70-30.

Fisheries committee  Yes, it's especially different in Nova Scotia, where the carapace size is bigger.

Fisheries committee  Yes, we land more canner-sized lobsters than any other province. Probably New Brunswick has some canners.