Fisheries committee  Yes, in this area we have been sharing since 1995. However, since 2003, the allocations are made to associations of fishers who give them to other fishers, who fish their quota for them. That money is used to rationalize the fisheries. That is why we are saying the Department is

Fisheries committee  Yes, but let me give you an example. For instance, if the price of crab were $2 this year, the association would send a fisher out to harvest it for $1. It would use the other dollar for its rationalization program, because the association is not allowed to fish; it does not have

Fisheries committee  Nor did we ever say they were responsible for the collapse of the stocks. On the other hand, if you ask 40 people to pick strawberries in a field, it is likely that more of them will end up being crushed. That is what I am saying. We went from 150 to 400 fishers, and then to almo

Fisheries committee  As I said, we experienced this kind of drop in 1989-1990. At the time, there were 130 of us in the industry. When that happened, we sat down, acted responsibly and invested a lot of money in research. We gave a lot of money to biologists at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and that r

Fisheries committee  In this region, the answer to that is yes and no. Things are quite difficult. In terms of fishing multiple species, as I was explaining earlier in my presentation, the vast majority of our members have only one licence. Even though fishing other species is put forward as a soluti

Fisheries committee  No, groundfish stocks are declining even if there is no fishing. Only seal stocks are going up.

Fisheries committee  The number of workers has not really gone down. Because of new entrants, the number of crab fishery stakeholders has not gone down—in fact, it has gone up. The same quantity of crab is being landed a lot faster by more people; that is all. There is the same number of people, but

Fisheries committee  Yes.

Fisheries committee  The issue is not only the TAC. We went through this in 1989-1990. The resource was jeopardized in 1989-1990 with 130 fishers. In cooperation with the Department's scientists, fishers reinvested in research. Thus we were able to rapidly increase the resource. It was far more abund

Fisheries committee  There are two in the Gaspé region and two more, in the Magdalen Islands.

Fisheries committee  My presentation focuses almost exclusively on this topic, with supporting graphs. Without these graphs, it is difficult to provide much detail. I had to cut back my presentation and was unable to complete it. I had asked to make a single presentation with the representatives from

Fisheries committee  The graphs show activity in the fisheries over the last two cycles. For example, traditional crabbers harvested almost 110,000 tons from 1999 to 2002, as well as from 2003 to 2009. However, during the second cycle, an additional 40,000 tons were harvested. We are accused of overf

Fisheries committee  As we see it, if there is any way of reducing the political impact of quota allocation, that would certainly be a very good thing. At the same time, there need to be real consultations to determine who will sit on these committees. So far, the consultations have taken place out o

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, we are appealing to you today on behalf of our members, who are all traditional snow crab fishers in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. We would like to discuss the current situation—a situation which warrants that an inquiry be conducted