International Trade committee  I don't know what more Canada can do, but I can speak really quickly on the impacts. In the lobster sector, we're seeing much higher lobster catches in much more northern parts of our range. In Newfoundland, parts of Quebec, Cape Breton and P.E.I., we're seeing a lot more lobster being caught in the northern part and far less being caught in the southern part, in the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy.

International Trade committee  I would echo what Paul said. I remember when we had a fisheries ambassador, and I think it was a useful position. It gave us a voice in Ottawa at a senior level. I think that's an interesting idea.

International Trade committee  Well, the challenge with the right whale is a challenge for both New England and Canadian harvesters and for the whole industry. They've got their own particular challenges with it. They've lost their MSC certification, for example, because of right whale entanglements and mortalities in the U.S.

International Trade committee  I'm sorry. I'd love to defer that to Ian.

International Trade committee  Well, I can, briefly. I'd love Ian to speak up on it too. The Canadian measures are world class. I think everybody would say that we've gone above and beyond by shutting down grids and doing what we do. The Americans do nothing like that. They have static closures and different measures.

International Trade committee  I'd love to hear from Ian.

International Trade committee  Much of the lobster from the eastern side of New Brunswick and P.E.I. is much smaller and most of it goes into processing. The processed lobster is not impacted by these minimum size changes. There won't be a huge impact there, but you're right, in parts of Quebec, the size is larger already, so it won't have a lot of impact on Quebec lobster.

International Trade committee  I don't think it's protectionism at all. It's a conservation measure that's been brought in by the State of Maine and the harvesters there to protect their lobster stock.

International Trade committee  No, I don't think there's anything hidden in it at all. They're doing it to try to ensure that they have lobster for future generations.

International Trade committee  There's no question that it could impact us. We'll have to sell more of that smaller lobster to Asia and to China. We'll potentially have to do some different processing with it. We're not sure what the impact will be.

International Trade committee  Just so I understand the question, is that a question about our officials from Canada talking to officials from the U.S. about the MMPA? Is that the question?

International Trade committee  I would say absolutely. I know that DFO is working regularly with NOAA in the U.S. on the comparability findings for lobster and the other 280 species. I think that's going quite well. As Paul said, the measures have been working to date, notwithstanding some real challenges to some harvesters, especially today, in the Acadian peninsula in New Brunswick.

International Trade committee  The Magnuson-Stevens act, which is part of U.S. law, has a provision that requires that any imported lobster be the same minimum size in live format as it is for the U.S., so it could. We're undertaking some work right now inside the council, trying to analyze what those two millimetre increases could mean.

International Trade committee  Yes, the DFO regions are in touch with us about this and they're talking to officials in Maine as well, and I think every association, every organization in eastern Canada is working on this, trying to figure out what the impact will be.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to speak with you virtually today. The Lobster Council of Canada represents the entire lobster value chain, with members involved in harvesting, buying, processing, live-shipping and exporting Canadian lobster—the best in the world.