Fisheries committee  If I understand the member's question, Mr. Chair, that's with respect to the harvest decision rules that are in place in the shrimp fishery. I think that's a management decision, and from a science point of view, our focus is on putting together the best available information fro

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. Offhand, I do not know that information.

Fisheries committee  Offhand, I do not know the number of acoustic surveys that are conducted for mackerel.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. That's a really broad question. It speaks to the changes we're seeing in the environment. Generally speaking, across all our pelagic fish in Atlantic Canada and specifically in the gulf region and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, we are seeing changes in

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. Yes, absolutely we are confident in the level of rigour that was applied to both of those stocks in the peer review process in determining the state of the stock and providing that information to the minister based on the best available information. I

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. I don't have that information at my disposal—

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. Gulf shrimp have been declining over the last number of years, unfortunately.

Fisheries committee  There are a number of studies and surveys to assess stocks, including our DFO surveys looking at size class, age composition and everything else, and looking at commercial catches and whatnot. All this is integrated into an assessment model and into the various zones throughout t

Fisheries committee  Thank you for your question, first of all, but in terms of cutting back the quota, those are decisions that are made with respect to ensuring the sustainability of the fishery. Certainly, predation and a number of other factors—environmental change—are all factors that speak to h

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. We assess herring stocks using a variety of indicators, including data received from harvesters. We include abundance indices, derived from various scientific analyses, including sample-based acoustic surveys conducted at sea. All of this forms the sc

Fisheries committee  In terms of sampling, we carry out projects in cooperation with industry stakeholders. In addition, Fisheries and Oceans Canada vessels will soon be at sea. We use a combination of data to assess the stocks. The information we derive from industry partnerships is an important fac