Fisheries committee  It's definitely an untapped market. It's rare that you'll ever get fishermen to agree on anything, but they would absolutely agree to participate in a seal fishery.

Fisheries committee  For the majority of my members, licence relief would be a help, but it would be a drop in the bucket. Most of my guys probably pay less than $500. That doesn't pay your expenses for one day of fishing.

Fisheries committee  It is. The big thing that most of my guys desperately need is payment protection on their enterprises. It takes a lot of pressure off my guys if they're not staring down the barrel of a $45,000 to $75,000 payment in either June or December.

Fisheries committee  Perhaps I could add to that. My membership in particular has a very aging population. The majority of my fishers are, I would say, 60 or older. Access to financial resources that would allow them to make the decision of whether to put their health at risk or their enterprise at

Fisheries committee  Absolutely. Long-term storage of lobster specifically is something that's greatly needed in this area, especially in northeastern Nova Scotia. The lobster that we catch early in the spring holds very well in long-term storage, for as much as six to eight months. We have one of t

Fisheries committee  We haven't been connected with information on that. Typically, as harvesters, we're kept at arm's length when it comes to the marketing aspect. P.E.I. is a little more involved at the direct marketing level with the fishers, but in Nova Scotia, not so much.

Fisheries committee  Thank you. I won't repeat any of Melanie's comments. As mentioned, I'm the president of the Gulf Nova Scotia Bonafide Fishermen's Association, representing roughly 100 of the 620 fishermen in the Gulf Nova Scotia region. I also sit as the vice-president of the fleet planning b