Fisheries committee  It's a good question. We had a southern gulf lobster advisory last week, and I kept throwing things on the buyers. They talk about an e-log, and I think there should be an e-slip. I don't know. In my previous statement I said we shouldn't add too much complexity, but at the same time maybe anybody buying should have a federal licence as well.

Fisheries committee  I would say there is some urgency in all of this, and I think Ian kind of nailed it perfectly, in that clarity is needed as much as anything, and we need it yesterday more than we need it today or tomorrow. It's something I hope the department will move on, instead of taking months to respond to or report on it, because time keeps marching on and the issue doesn't go away; in some cases it amplifies.

Fisheries committee  I think Melanie kind of hit that pretty well. If you just enforce the rules and regulations you already have as they are, I think you'll be in a good position. Often we come up with a new regulation to address the fact that we didn't address another regulation, and it's like saying we're going to come up with this whole system because the e-logs aren't working.

Fisheries committee  I would like to think that the minister at the time was made aware. I know the department itself was very aware of that specific issue. The department was even made very aware prior to the incident in St. Marys Bay that this potential was there, because, like I said in one of my earlier statements on that, the membership of my local 9 there, which represents that area, had been bringing this issue up for years, and this continued to build.

Fisheries committee  Yes. It's in my own backyard, and this is why I spoke to the two biggest first nations in eastern New Brunswick, Elsipogtog and Esgenoopetitj. Both have FSC fisheries that take place out of the season. Elsipogtog takes place in May to July; for our season, they fish that in August to October.

Fisheries committee  Yes, I think technology can help in places. I think the problem with technology sometimes is the standards within what the department sets. I think e-log is a prime example of that. Because of the proprietary information and the harvesters being concerned how that may be used, certain organizations like the RPPSG in the Gaspé, and even the PEIFA, have tried developing their own e-logs, because as member organizations we want to control the information.

Fisheries committee  Off the top of my head, there are a few things that we've talked about. I think education is a big thing. It's the same thing. We've done this. We have a science and research branch for lobsters: Homarus. We've done stuff with our own membership. We've started to do that with first nations, trying to make some of the individuals understand why you shouldn't fish lobster in July in any given area, let alone St.

Fisheries committee  Certain laws around food, social and ceremonial are clear. Where things really start to get murky is when you talk about “moderate livelihood”. When we talk about moderate livelihood fisheries, what are those? We don't even know what a moderate livelihood is, let alone what that fishery may consist of.

Fisheries committee  Well, that's the—

Fisheries committee  It is a very complex issue. It's a hard one to define. We've struggled with this. We've made efforts with the department. I am a member of the federation. We've had meetings as such, and we've tried to wrap our minds around that. I'm not even sure.... I think that's beyond my expertise on what it may be.

Fisheries committee  I'm not today, but yes.

Fisheries committee  That's a good question. Some of my members feel that, yes, the C and P officers may, in certain cases with certain groups, turn and look the other way. For whatever reason—you can only speculate—in some cases, if they approach individuals exercising rights-based fishing, they face a lot of hostility.

Fisheries committee  It depends on the fishery. I know that the FSC fishery—

Fisheries committee  I know the FSCs are under monitoring, but the monitoring programs are very weak. For the lobster fishery as a whole, I don't know if that's the answer or not. As a harvester, there's some concern about the complexity and challenges we face when we look at the scale of the fishery and the burden that may be incurred by that.

Fisheries committee  To start with, an electronic weight slip may be a helpful thing. I don't know. I think it's a very complex issue, and you'd really have to take some time to find some workable solutions that are not cumbersome for the industry itself, are feasible, make sense and will be effective.