Well, I would start by saying that I agree with almost all the concerns expressed by Mark Butler regarding activities around the island and how they might have been better approached.
However, I've been involved on the island for so long. I have worked, have been involved, and certainly have interacted with the offshore petroleum board for several decades, and the offshore industry. I think many of the things that are of concern up front now can be addressed, as Mark suggested, if you bring all the players together during the development of the management plan and start looking at ways in which some of the worries might be addressed, such as the concerns around the impact of low-impact industry activity on the island.
That's one of the things that will have to be addressed during the development of the management policy. Certainly the development of the guidance and interpretive notes will contribute to that and will be informed by that. The management plan will also have to address not only the activities of visitors—the number of visitors and their activities on the island—but also the activities of researchers, including government researchers and university researchers, and the activities of media.
There's quite a wide range of people who have an interest in being on Sable Island. There has been tourism to Sable Island for many decades, indeed including some expeditions that have delivered 100 to 120 people to the island at one go, so there is experience. There is long-term experience in dealing with visitors to Sable Island as individuals, people coming by boat, people coming by air, and people turning up unexpectedly. That experience is there, and that can also be brought to the development of the management plan.
I think the management plan is going to start with a biodiversity assessment which is just beginning now. It is bringing together all the science research that's present, that's already been done, regarding Sable Island, and adding some new data. It's going to actually define what the ecological environmental issues are that have to be addressed, and how they might be addressed in the management plan.
It's a combination of managing people, managing activities, and managing the environment.