I'm a member, in another kind of side gig, if you want to call it that, of a group called the Forum for Leadership on Water, or FLOW for short. In 2007 we released a report called Changing the Flow that identified, even at that point, the declining trend over the last two to three decades in the scientific capacity of the federal government to monitor and undertake scientific research. The recent reductions in DFO staff and staff in other agencies is just a further slide in that direction, raising significant concerns about the role that science can and should be playing in making these decisions.
On May 31st, 2012. See this statement in context.