Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you once again to the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans for the opportunity for the Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association to present on the important topic of mitigation strategies for the North Atlantic right whale. My name is Ian MacPherson, I am the Executive Director of the PEIFA.

Fisheries committee  It's been an interesting situation because they're federal waters, so we were surprised that in certain situations provincially it can take precedence over a federal EA in federal waters. That's part of what we're dealing with in the Abercrombie mill situation there. Certainly the amount of time for input and the thoroughness are big concerns and that's why we are, as a collective group, lobbying to have a federal EA for this particular project.

Fisheries committee  We could certainly provide that.

Fisheries committee  One of the recent examples was that there were some fairly minor fines assessed to, unfortunately, some bad actors who had captured a number of female snow crab. Of course, with any egg-bearing females, in lobster or whatever, it's important for the resource to be sustained. We didn't really feel that the fine was in sync with the infraction, but since that time there have been some pretty stiff penalties coming down, and also suspensions, and that certainly sends a strong message

Fisheries committee  We certainly could do that because we want the resource to be sustainable, and it only takes a few people acting out to create some problems.

Fisheries committee  If I'm talking about some of the larger federal ones.... I believe one of the first ones was just appointed around the marine protected areas, and there's no industry representation on that council. I guess that's my comment there. Certainly ex-government people have a place and groups that are interested in the fishery have a place, but industry should also be part of that, too, to give a balanced approach.

Fisheries committee  To answer both questions, one of the things that just occurred to me is that, a lot of times, the terms of reference are very restrictive in terms of who can participate on those committees and generally exclude anyone who has been associated with the industry.

Fisheries committee  No. I wouldn't say that. I'm talking about actual members on some of these committees that Mr. Morrissey was referring to. I think we need to see industry properly represented on these committees, but sometimes the terms of reference, or who can be on those committees, is restrictive and excludes people from industry.

Fisheries committee  I won't speculate. Maybe, back in the day, there wasn't the interest from industry. I can say one thing for sure: fishing organizations are very involved with the industry, right from policy to every aspect of conservation, protection, and everything you want to see. We want to be involved.

Fisheries committee  Yes.

Fisheries committee  Certainly, it's a good start. We'll review the language. If I could take the liberty of providing some language for the committee, we'll do that also.

Fisheries committee  There are some gaps there that can be worked out.

Fisheries committee  Yes, now that it's getting closer, certainly.

Fisheries committee  They're, I guess, in the amount of time that's allowable in a season. One of the other things, for example...and this has been in place for a number of years. I believe Newfoundland has quite a few days that captains can take off for various reasons and have someone in their ship.

Fisheries committee  We think there could be some more clarity around it. I mean, there are quite a number of changes that are being looked at, and that's why I wanted to loop in both the traditional and community knowledge, because sometimes decisions aren't made in the broader scope. An example I'll give was that a few years ago the harvesters on Prince Edward Island were quite concerned that the mackerel quota was staying the same year after year.