You brought up an interesting situation. As you say, a number of years ago, COSEWIC did identify that the cod stocks should be, if you will, put on as either threatened or endangered. But at that time, those stocks were under a moratorium under the Fisheries Act.
So you're quite right. I think what happened then was that stocks were under a moratorium, there were no directed fisheries, and there was a very limited or incidental bycatch. Also, if you encountered cod, there was monitoring and a protocol that you had to move away from that area by three, four, or five miles, I think.
So in reflecting on that, I think the government made the decision that adding on a simple prohibition, which is all that SARA has—that's all it has--would have significant social and economic consequences for Newfoundland and Labrador, the north shore of Quebec, and throughout the Maritimes. So what they did....
I mean, the thing you have to remember is that we do have the Fisheries Act, and the Fisheries Act has a lot of clout and a lot of capabilities in regard to introducing all sorts of measures. So the regime that's in place now for cod is extremely strict, and I can report that there are early signs—not in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but off Newfoundland and Labrador—of cod coming back.
So to me--and I think to people in our industry--there was no question that the stock was in terrible shape. We all knew that. As for the fact that COSEWIC comes out and does the rate of decline, as you said, and says that it is in really bad shape, well, thank you very much. But it was the fishing industry of Newfoundland and Labrador, if you remember, that advised early on in the campaign that there were problems.
In any event, I would simply say that the Fisheries Act can introduce very stringent measures, and basically it did. All we're looking for is some sort of convergence of the acts and, particularly, hopefully to have the excellent scientists from COSEWIC and DFO operating with a model that is generally in keeping with how we recognize the world of fish.