Fisheries committee  I would venture to say yes, it's definitely having an impact. I would go back to my comments in my presentation that we need robust enforcement and a recognition of the rules.

Fisheries committee  Illegal fishing is always driven by money, in my opinion. There's always something going on behind the scenes that people want to misreport or un-report, which takes us into that realm. Mr. Knight alluded to the idea that we needed DMP at 100% in the lobster fishery. My esteeme

Fisheries committee  Mr. Perkins, if I had the answer to that question, I probably wouldn't be here today; I'd have a different job. I do agree that it's most concerning in terms of what's happening in the Bay of Fundy and around into area 33. We see the stocks go down. We know that there are a mul

Fisheries committee  Good afternoon. Thank you to the committee for the opportunity to speak here today on illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries. This is a complex issue facing our industry. The federation cannot stress enough the importance of protecting our resource from any illegal and u

Fisheries committee  I don't know if anybody can hear me. We're having a terrible storm here, and I did not hear the question.

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Johns. The threshold, when corporations come to purchase fish plants and access and so on, it's a high bar. For our country I believe the number is $480 million. That catches the attention of Industry Canada. It's in that range, and a corporation coming in at $1.2

Fisheries committee  Generally, I would say that given the way the fishery is managed through the department, there are some stocks that have serious issues. Ian referenced mackerel as an example. So, yes, there are certainly areas in which we would have concerns. I think, more importantly, it goes

Fisheries committee  I'll try again really slowly, and then if it doesn't work, I'll turn it to Ian. Back to the blurring of the lines, it starts out offshore, but there are often doors that people are coming in through controlling agreements where they're gaining access to the inshore to get more

Fisheries committee  I thank my esteemed colleague from Prince Edward Island. Mr. Morrissey, the issue is in the offshore. Before I go any further, the interpreter can only hear me so-so. I'll keep my eye on everybody, and if the sound is not good, you can cut me off and let Mr. MacPherson finish t

Fisheries committee  The issue around the access through controlling agreements, given that the regulation came into play April 1, we've had a policy in the fishery which prohibited this from happening, but because it was a policy as opposed to a law, we had a considerable amount of creep, I'll call

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. On behalf of our members across the country, we want to take this opportunity to address the honourable members today. Again, we express our appreciation for this opportunity. The Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters Federation is comprised of member organ

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. McDonald.

Fisheries committee  Judging from some experiences I have had in my time in the fishery, our common ground is that the people who have access to the fishery want to earn a living. For those who are exercising either that privilege or that right, the common ground is to bring home a lobster so that yo

Fisheries committee  DFO has a system in place for commercial harvesters that involves the submission of log books and records of catches. It ties into all of the provincial licences that are issued, in terms of the quantity of lobster coming ashore. It's a program that has been in place in the Marit

Fisheries committee  Well, in the interest of time, I'll say it very quickly again. We need to have a table to go to, we definitely need better communication for all parties, and we need transparency for all parties. Those are my three key things to put to the committee. That's where we have to s