Fisheries committee  Yes, we can submit those. On the snow crab side we definitely want to see the adaptability that others have been talking about in those seasonal closures. That would definitely assist our snow crab fishers in getting out there but would still protect the whales at the same time.

Fisheries committee  I would point again to the exclusion lines. Actually, it wasn't mandatory this year for weak links. Off the top of my head, I don't have one. If I think of one later I'll send it in. My apologies.

Fisheries committee  In my opinion, not that I am aware of due to the management measures for lobster. There were major challenges this year with the snow crab fishery. It is a quota fishery and not competitive. Because the whales were circling more looking for food this year, it did create longer an

Fisheries committee  Thank you for your question. Basically here in P.E.I., we know that we fish in shallow waters compared with the situation in other areas. One of the facts we have, based on surveys we've done, is that, we know fish are in waters that are as shallow as four feet deep. Yes, you'r

Fisheries committee  Yes. We've had discussions about a voluntary logbook for both seals and mackerel. Anecdotally, we hear from fishers constantly about the interactions with seals and mackerel, and also, as Keith pointed out, the large abundance of small fish, which fishers on P.E.I. now see as wel

Fisheries committee  Sure. We talked about an increase in the minimum size, which has worked in other countries to improve the quality of the stock. We talked about a better understanding of the egg survey. We talked about new fishing methods and new fishing gear that would target specific sizes. All

Fisheries committee  I can do this pretty quickly, I think. One way to address the transparency would be to share with industry and the advisory committee a summary table of what each association recommended, and let each other organization see what all other organizations are submitting as well. T

Fisheries committee  That is a great question, with a lot of different aspects to it, I think. First, I'll touch on the fact that—

Fisheries committee  I think the area that was overlooked was the observations that fishers have been seeing for years. It was not “new news” that we thought the mackerel fishery was in trouble. For years at the Atlantic mackerel advisory committee table, each organization had been making recommendat

Fisheries committee  They had been recommending different changes that could've been made to prevent this from happening in the first place, yes.

Fisheries committee  Yes. I think what it comes down to is understanding the contribution that industry can provide. As I noted in my opening remarks, the harvesters are going to see the changes on the water before DFO scientists ever do. The recommendation would be to make sure DFO is using that kno

Fisheries committee  On behalf of the approximately 1,200 fishers in P.E.I., I would like to thank you, Mr. Chair and members of this committee, for the invitation to speak to you today. The P.E.I. Fishermen's Association was created in the 1950s and has evolved alongside the Department of Fisheries

Fisheries committee  Yes, I feel that looking at the whole ecosystem is definitely a key to understanding everything. We mentioned earlier not just understanding the temperature changes, pH changes, salinity changes and things that are shifting in the actual water chemistry, but how those are shiftin

Fisheries committee  We've had a little bit of information on P.E.I. We see fluctuations in the green crab annually, and it usually comes down to winter temperatures and what we're seeing the following year, based on the temperatures over the winter and if there's a large fluctuation or a small one.

Fisheries committee  I do, actually. We have a lot of concerns on P.E.I. about the carrying capacity of the species. Basically, there's a lot of talk about productivity and where things are right now in terms of our biomass. Right now our biomass is through the roof, which is great; this is not a com