Off Newfoundland the cyclic nature we see in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is definitely not evident to quite the same extent. There are some fluctuations. They do appear to have a certain periodicity to them, but we have not gone through several cycles to say these are actually cycles. In order to validate cycles, you have to have several ups and downs in order to be able to say with any confidence we are in a cyclic period.
The same can be said for shrimp in our region. We have basically seen a substantial increase following the collapse of the groundfish stocks in the region and the shrimp increased substantially. They appear to be declining now. The environmental relationships we have been able to establish to explain some of these patterns are applicable not only to our region but also have been found to occur in other parts of the world under different jurisdictions than DFO.
These patterns of variability and environmental relationships have been reproduced in comparable ecosystems, so it gives us some confidence that at least the cycles we do have, or the relationships we can establish, are actually there.
I hope this answers your question.