Fisheries committee  We would see much more mackerel everywhere when the fishery is ready to reopen, if it has rebuilt to the point where it's above the critical zone. It's a place it hasn't been over the last decade. The mackerel people would be seeing it at a level all around the region higher than they'd seen in a long time.

Fisheries committee  Before I go into it, I would like to clarify that the explanations I gave are potential. My point is that we don't know. These things could be happening, but we don't know, and it links to what would be a robust sign of rebuilding. What we really need to see is the outcome of a stock assessment that shows the abundance of spawning fish above the critical zone, above a certain threshold that's been established by the advisory committee.

Fisheries committee  We have a lot of evidence from people on the water, and it's very useful and optimistic, but the stock assessment is truly the best tool we have to assess the overall abundance of mackerel in Atlantic Canada and Quebec.

Fisheries committee  It's hard to say what would happen in the future in a hypothetical scenario, but what we've been seeing over the last years is that if we kept fishing even at these very low rates, we would keep seeing the stock decline further and further, so I would imagine—and it's not far-fetched to imagine—that if we were to reopen the fishery too early, we would see a population that either is not recovering or is getting even lower.

Fisheries committee  Yes, I think fisheries science is an extremely complex science, and the models and the approach that the DFO has are robust, so I'm comfortable with it.

Fisheries committee  Yes. Thank you for the question. There are many reasons for this discrepancy. One is the spatial area, so yes, more mackerel might be seen in certain parts of Newfoundland waters, but we're not taking into account what's happening in the rest of the region. Also, we've heard anecdotally that in western Newfoundland, in the Gros Morne area, people are not finding mackerel there.

Fisheries committee  I said that the rebuilding plan objectives weren't achieved. Is that what you're referring to?

Fisheries committee  Yes, over the last decade, the management actions have not caused population growth. In fact, over the last decade, the management decisions have led to a further population decline. Because of that, the rebuilding plan was created. The rebuilding plan objective was basically to encourage population growth, and that objective has not been achieved because the assessment from last year is that the mackerel are at their lowest spawner abundance ever recorded.

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to appear before you. This is a very important study, as we need to think about how to help the people who are the most impacted right now by fisheries closures. We also need to think about how to rebuild fisheries for the future.