Fisheries committee  Thank you. That is a good question. GREMM is an organization, along with several others, such as Campobello Whale Rescue Team, Tangly Whales in Newfoundland, the Marine Animal Response Society in the Atlantic as well as the Pacific, with which we have partnerships under the mar

Fisheries committee  The aerial assets dedicated by both Transport Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada's conservation, protection and science branches are targeting areas in which there are closures. The first step is a dynamic closure. Just to be clear, seasonal closures don't kick in right away.

Fisheries committee  In 2017, when we had the increase in mortalities and the new distribution in the Gulf of St-Lawrence and that magnitude of aggregation, it was around 400 animals. After 2017, it dropped to 356 in 2019. It's approximately 336 now.

Fisheries committee  Unlike other species, the known life history of right whales is not actually well known, because they are not known to die of natural causes. They are typically dying at around the 40-year mark because they typically get killed by entanglements or a ship strike.

Fisheries committee  That is likely linked to that $700,000.

Fisheries committee  Only one, and that would be NOAA in the United States.

Fisheries committee  We do have accountability at this point, but it is a relatively new program. The fact that Canada is the first one in the world to share lost gear reporting suggests that it's a developing program, and in fact we are ahead of the game. When it comes to the reporting of lost gear

Fisheries committee  For our detection program, we use aerial platforms like planes from Transport Canada, DFO science and DFO conservation protection. We also have acoustic monitoring devices, buoys in the water to constantly listen for right whales. As well, the DFO, the Coast Guard and the DFO con

Fisheries committee  Yes, there has been. Under whales initiative 1.0, $167.4 million was allocated to the protection of right whales and two other species. Of that, approximately $700,000 is allocated to our conservation protection officials for surveillance—for example, the use of planes to monitor

Fisheries committee  Thank you. We have a tool that's available to fish harvesters electronically to allow them to easily report lost fishing gear promptly. When that report is done or submitted by a fish harvester, the department receives that report, and we process that report as soon as possible

Fisheries committee  Entanglements, when they do occur, require an investigation to determine what the origin of the fishing gear is. We are adamant that unless that investigation is conclusive, we believe that it can't be identified or linked to a particular gear type. Snow crab fisheries have bee