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. Lawrence, something that the minister back then, in 1997....

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  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 tell you that they needed a specific percentage?

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 tonnes.

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 the initial TAC allocation and supplementary allocations, could the Minister say that one fleet is at greater risk than another and that, as a result, she has decided to increase that fleet’s share of the supplementary TAC a little more, given the challenges it faces?

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 noticed?

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—

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’ll probably have a chance to ask more questions later, but I’m more interested in the technical side on the first round. Mr. Burns, when a fishery closes and then reopens, no matter how many years later, is the catch history of the various fleets still considered when it reopens, in most cases?

Fisheries committee  As part of the new fishing quota allocation, they considered who had a catch history when the fishery closed. Despite that, fishing quotas were still allocated to other fleets or groups, such as the offshore fleet or the shrimp fleet, which had no catch history. Is this correct?

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chair, I think if you read the motion of Mrs. Desbiens very carefully, it said the 27th for two hours and the 29th for two hours. This is what we voted on, and I think we should respect that. The bells are ringing.