Fisheries committee  Whether that handling has a population-level effect is a function of several other factors such as the amount of handling, the size of the population—

Fisheries committee  DFO science does not.

Fisheries committee  I manage a division of science that undertakes assessments in the Maritimes region. Within the Maritimes region, to my knowledge, science has not recommended, without being asked, any changes to the season. I would defer to my colleague for other regions.

Fisheries committee  Matt, I can start with that, if you like. Within the Maritimes regions and the southern gulf, lobsters are at the middle of their range, if you think about that.

Fisheries committee  Therefore, we don't expect any impacts that might arise from climate change—

Fisheries committee  Yes.

Fisheries committee  Matt, perhaps you could respond.

Fisheries committee  It isn't necessarily. I think collaborative research and collaborative monitoring can inform management, but they are somewhat separate from the actual practice of managing a fishery. I think I would leave it at that.

Fisheries committee  Seasonality goes back a long time and is based on a number of activities and decisions going back decades—certainly long before we were involved in fisheries management. There are, I would say, two categories of considerations. The first one is sort of biological and ecological,

Fisheries committee  I may ask my colleague, Matthew Hardy, to jump in at the end. One important thing to note is that my colleague Matthew and I are both members of the science sector. We're not part of DFO management, so really it's not within our mandate or area of expertise to speak to managemen

Fisheries committee  Members of the committee, thank you for inviting us here today. This is an opportunity for us to speak about DFO science's role in providing advice in both the DFO Maritimes and gulf regions of Atlantic Canada, notably with respect to lobster fisheries. My role in DFO science i

Fisheries committee  I know there's a herring fishery; I'm not sure about a bait fishery.

Fisheries committee  The herring that are targeted south of the border in U.S. waters are separate stocks, and there's very little exchange of individuals between those populations. Among U.S. stocks and among U.S. stocks and Canadian stocks, there's limited exchange of individuals. There is one area

Fisheries committee  I can address the science aspects of that. As I said, I'm a scientist with maritimes region, and Atlantic herring does fall under the responsibilities of my division. In maritimes region, the vast majority of the catch comes from the southwest Nova Scotia Bay of Fundy stock com

Fisheries committee  I am the chair.