Fisheries committee  It's about 45,000 tonnes in total. Canada is a significant supplier of clawed lobster in the world markets. LFA 34 alone produces about 20% of the world's clawed lobster supply, and Canada about 40%.

Fisheries committee  Correct, we are not allowed to use these funds for the Canadian market.

Fisheries committee  That was another situation, based on the conditions of the program. We have to talk to the other stakeholders in order to set up a new program for this year. Previously, no, there was nothing spent in Canada.

Fisheries committee  We are still committed to preserving the independence of the inshore fleet in Atlantic Canada. People in trust agreements have a period of time in which to get out of those, and the person holding the licence in trust has to find a way within the timeframe to reissue the licence

Fisheries committee  For 2009, there was the program in March, but we have to work with other programs and other departments to set up a new program for coming years.

Fisheries committee  The budget is just for the United States market. It was not possible to use this money for the Canadian market; it was one of the conditions. The entire budget is set aside for the American and European markets.

Fisheries committee  Last year, we made some policy changes. We talked with lobster fishermen about reducing the number of boats and fishing licences in each zone. But, clearly, those changes are not enough. In the 2009 season, there will be too many fishermen, costs will be too high and the price wi

Fisheries committee  Yes, we have spoken with the provinces and the industry and we are looking for new markets and for better ways to sell lobster. We want to find a way to expand the lobster market in Canada and elsewhere around the world. We are trying to find new technologies that will let us sen

Fisheries committee  As you may recall, we did consider licence sanctions in the past. We put in place a program for licence sanctions. Unfortunately, we lost several court cases, and under the existing act that is no longer possible. We cannot do licence sanctions. They're extraordinarily effective.

Fisheries committee  That's correct.

Fisheries committee  It basically had to be rolled out the door very quickly; it was spent on generic promotion. Your question about price elasticity and the response of various components of the lobster market to price changes, etc., is a valid one. We don't have the degree of research we'd like o

Fisheries committee  The future being January 2010, so it's imminent. And that market would represent what percentage of our lobsters, do you know?

Fisheries committee  And we already have seen problems with the $40-million Japanese market as a result of PSP in tomalley, and we are going to have to start doing a proper tracking and traceability program so we can identify where those individual lobsters come from. Because the bands are on every l

Fisheries committee  Clearly, the latter was part of the proposal in the Fisheries Act that was being proposed. I think, generally, that the fishermen and most communities would agree that this kind of approach--administrative law and tribunals--provides much quicker and more suitable penalties. Hav

Fisheries committee  The lobster fishery is susceptible to this issue, in particular, with respect to the European market. There will be possibly requirements, from a food safety point of view, in other markets as well, but we need to move ahead with options the industry can look at for being able to