Over the years, we have seen stocks decline. Let's assume that we are confident about the accuracy of the data and that we are seeing a trend here. Certain things are noted the first year, but after the second and third years, we can see a trend emerging. Somewhere, someone decided to defy logic. If stocks decline for two or three years and then, all of a sudden, in 2010, a decision is made to cut the quota by 63%, it means that people did not really believe what was happening in previous years. This is where I have a problem with the department's logic. All of a sudden, it makes a decision on the strength of data it believes to be sound. While it knew the trend showed declining stocks, this year, it decided to take action.
On June 7th, 2010. See this statement in context.