Fisheries committee  We already have a precautionary approach. What Fisheries and Oceans Canada did this year was ignore that approach. The department basically scrapped the approach and said that it was going to do something different. It doesn't make sense. Either we have rules or we don't. It's n

Fisheries committee  I think it's safe to say that, most of the time, the department is reactive, rather than proactive. Back in 2011, when fishers started reporting sightings of small red fish—which we used to refer to as peanuts because they were just three centimetres long—it should have immediate

Fisheries committee  Like everyone, we see that things aren't working from a numbers standpoint. That tells us we have a real problem that needs fixing. I talked about it in my opening statement. We don't have enough analyses or data to know exactly where things stand. What is certain, though, is th

Fisheries committee  Good morning. I have been the director general of the Fédération régionale acadienne des pêcheurs professionnels, FRAPP, for 15 years. Several of you have heard me testify before this committee on a number of occasions. Fisheries are definitely an area where the concept of sust

Fisheries committee  Obviously, that measure only applies as a last resort, when our inventory is not moving. I hope that we will find solutions to sell our products before we get to that point. At least, as Mr. Trudeau said, instead of us throwing food away and wasting it, the Canadian government c

Fisheries committee  The season is way behind schedule right now, at least for shrimping. There will be fishing for sure, provided the market opens up a little. That is the big unknown. Obviously, the sooner the better. If we do fish, the season will certainly extend into the fall. September 1 would

Fisheries committee  We are making two major requests of the government. The first is to suspend the cost of licences. They cost from $15,000 to $25,000, and it is an expense that fishers have incurred so that they can go fishing. That being the case, we are asking that they be reimbursed for it. T

Fisheries committee  As I just explained, it is a huge expense. For snow crab, the fee is $132.50 per tonne, and for shrimp it is $66.50 per tonne. We also have to factor in the 2% increase this year. Since there were no funds from the federal government, we thought it was a very appropriate way to

Fisheries committee  The answer to the first question is yes. We have produced these figures, and we can easily pass them on to you. As for the second question, the Government of New Brunswick hasn't provided any support to date.

Fisheries committee  We did indeed, yes. Earlier, I said the fixed costs were $500,000. So if we do not fish, we face losing half a million dollars, it is fairly simple. It costs $25,000 to insure a fishing vessel. That is no small amount. So when you get $10,000 in assistance from Ottawa, I do not h

Fisheries committee  The federal government program involving a secure line of credit to pay for surplus inventory, which was announced by Prime Minister Trudeau, should have been introduced much earlier. That solution would have helped us move forward much more quickly. Also, $62 million is a very

Fisheries committee  One of your colleagues said it earlier: the criteria have yet to be released. This is making fishers very uneasy, especially because we do not know whether this shrimp harvest will be abundant or not over the course of the year. We do not know what we can rely on. Employment ins

Fisheries committee  Mr. Morrissey, I disagree. On the contrary, I think we have put too many of our eggs in the same basket. We are too dependent on the markets, and there we sit. We develop a market and then we do business with the same people in perpetuity, and we do very little to explore the oth

Fisheries committee  It's hard to say, since the first week of fishing isn't over yet. We'll see how the markets react. The plants are very particular in terms of the size of the product. It seems that the only place we can possibly sell shrimp right now is in the sandwich market. They want small sh

Fisheries committee  In terms of pricing, I don't think it had an impact, given the difficult market conditions. However, Mother's Day in May made it easier to sell snow crab. In fact, American wholesalers promoted snow crab for that occasion, and I think that was positive. With respect to the late