Fisheries committee  I believe you're talking about crab.

Fisheries committee  The structure of the crab fishery is that we do have arrangements where there are combined enterprises where you have more than one individual quota associated with a particular enterprise. We also have buddied-up arrangements where harvesters can work together. The particular circumstances around the enterprise, the fishing operation you're describing right now, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to explain them.

Fisheries committee  We do have an annual consultation process. Can we connect with all harvesters during that consultation process? No. There are representatives, there are committees, and harvesters speak for their respective fleets. There is a possibility that individuals who don't get to participate in that process may not feel engaged, but the department is speaking to crab fishermen and fishermen in other fisheries every year.

Fisheries committee  The committee structures in place assume the committee representatives, who are elected democratically by their fleets, consult with their constituents and bring forward their perspectives.

Fisheries committee  We provide information to individual harvesters as well. I obviously can't speak to the motivation behind an individual putting in an ATIP request. Obviously they were dissatisfied with the responsiveness, but in general we have our formal consultation process, and we also hear from individual harvesters all the time.

Fisheries committee  I'm going to ask Verna to speak about the situation with the crab fleets because it's illustrative of how the issue of a platform or a stern extension was identified as a need, and the department responded accordingly.

Fisheries committee  Could you tell us what document you're reading from?

Fisheries committee  I'm not familiar with the document you're referencing.

Fisheries committee  It's a Transport Canada document. It isn't a document that it is within our mandate to speak to. Our registrations speak to vessel length, and the documentation related to modifications or stability generally does not form part of our records.

Fisheries committee  The last time we engaged in a dedicated consultation process for vessel length specifically was in 2006, leading into the 2007 policy changes. Annually, we engage with the crab fishing fleets, for example, to develop the management plans associated with that fishery. That happens every year.

Fisheries committee  I think it's more frequent interaction between us and our colleagues at Transport Canada to ensure that, when we're developing management measures—not only related to the vessel size but also related to season dates, opening times, and things of that nature—their input on vessel safety and their expertise are brought to bear when we're developing our measures.

Fisheries committee  From a regulatory perspective, DFO's role is to ensure that vessels that are used in commercial fisheries are registered with the department. As I've indicated, the policies around that to determine what size of vessel is appropriate to be used in a particular fishery have evolved over a significant period of time.

Fisheries committee  Certainly, in the Newfoundland and Labrador context, and I believe also in other regions, fishing enterprises tend to be multi-species, which means they can fish groundfish, shellfish, pelagics, etc. Not all of those fisheries are individual quota fisheries, so in some instances, a harvester who will have access to crab, for example, with an IQ—you're absolutely right—would be limited by the amount of fish associated with that, but they could then potentially use that same vessel to fish in a competitive fishery for which there is no individual limit.

Fisheries committee  You're absolutely right.

Fisheries committee  Exactly.