Fisheries committee  I can add a bit to that as well. I'm not sure if I can compare what we do to what is being done in the U.S., but right now in LFA 34, which, as I mentioned, is the largest LFA, we have a maximum distance between our pots of 30 fathoms, which is 180 feet. We have a 3.5:1 ratio, so the length of rope used to attach the fishing gear—the anchor to the trap to the primary buoy—cannot exceed the 3:1 ratio.

Fisheries committee  Well, I think the whalesafe gear fund that DFO announced last year is a good start. Harvesters are the end-users of these products, and we need to make sure they're safe for everyone on the water. Some of the safety concerns we've seen during our trials are quite scary. We had to pull some of the innovations very early on because there was a fear that the crew would be severely injured or, unfortunately, killed.

Fisheries committee  I can't even think of a word. It would honestly cripple Atlantic Canada if we were excluded from snow crab and lobster in our U.S. market. They're still our primary importer, followed by China. It's always great to diversify our markets but we're not there yet. This would have dire consequences to the entirety of Atlantic Canada.

Fisheries committee  Yes, certainly. In 2020, the LFA 34 advisory committee, which comprises lobster licence-holders within LFA 34, along with DFO representatives, introduced into their fishing conditions a maximum diameter of their ground-line. They put forward that the maximum diameter would be five-eighths of an inch, and that would be for their ground-line and their end lines.

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for the opportunity to speak before the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. My name is Heather Mulock, and I'm the executive director of Coldwater Lobster Association. Our association represents approximately 200 captains throughout lobster fishing area 34, the largest LFA in eastern Canada, with 979 licence-holders, the most licences of any LFA.