Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. If we're going to want to argue about the number of times the Minister of Fisheries or other Liberals in that position have appeared before the committee, I would remind you that the former minister of fisheries Gail Shea hardly attended any committee meeti

Fisheries committee  Do they own boats over 100 feet, yes or no?

Fisheries committee  How many?

Fisheries committee  Okay. Perfect. We just opened a fishery that was closed for 30 years. I think we almost all agree that this fishery closed, in big part, because of this big vessel that was catching a major amount of fish. Are we agreed on that?

Fisheries committee  However, they contributed, didn't they?

Fisheries committee  We're here for answers. Look, let me rephrase it this way. We've been talking for years about a sustainable fishery, a fishery that would respect the communities more, that would benefit communities; and we're seeing that we're going to allow big boats again in the Gulf of St. L

Fisheries committee  Okay, Mr. Burns. I'm sorry to interrupt, but when Mr. LeBlanc made the decision in 1977 not to allow the big vessels in the Gulf, was there a policy at that time, or did he put a policy in place himself as minister?

Fisheries committee  Okay. Could the minister prohibit large vessels over 100 feet from entering the Gulf?

Fisheries committee  When did the first consultations on reopening the redfish fishery begin? I think the shrimpers have repeatedly told you that they need an allocation that’s sufficient to get them through the crisis they’re experiencing in the shrimp fishery. During these consultations, did they

Fisheries committee  All right. Mr. Vézina, could you briefly tell us if the shrimpers gave you any figures as to the amount of money they needed to get past the difficulties their industry was experiencing?

Fisheries committee  All right. In terms of the basic quota of 25,000 tonnes that the minister announced recently, your scientists have said quite clearly that this number could increase substantially. If I’ve understood correctly, we’re talking about a total of 80,000 tonnes, or even over 300,000 t

Fisheries committee  If the total allowable catch, or TAC, is increased from 25,000 to 80,000 tonnes, and then to 250,000 tonnes, the share allocated to shrimpers and other fleets could increase. We know quite well that shrimp trawlers are currently one of our fleets with the highest needs. Despite

Fisheries committee  Very well. Mr. Vigneault, I’d like to come back to the shrimp industry. When testifying before us in 2022 on this subject, department officials stated that redfish ate over 200,000 tonnes of shrimp a year, but that only 55,000 tonnes of shrimp remained. Wasn’t this imbalance not

Fisheries committee  All right, but according to this indicator, there were 55,000 tonnes of shrimp in the Gulf of St. Lawrence at the time, and redfish were eating 200,000 tonnes. Something was wrong. Math wasn’t my strong suit at school, but that’s easy to understand.

Fisheries committee  If there is no available indicator—