I think there's interest. I know there's interest, and I see the industry here. They're talking much more about moving towards more of a value-based approach. They're realizing, particularly with capture fisheries.... I think the argument on capture fisheries in this region is about quality of employment, more so than the number of people employed. In the aquaculture industry, I think a lot of growth is going to occur that's going to create job opportunities. On capture fisheries, we need to create a value proposition that keeps people in the industry. It's about quality of employment, and moving toward that sort of value proposition is critical.
I think one of the challenges we have in overcoming that right now is that the seafood sector, you could say in Canada, but let's say eastern Canada including Quebec, is historically more about production. We buy fish from a harvester, we process it in traditional forms, and we send it to market. We look at niche opportunities, where possible, of course, but that's our focus.
When you're getting into the kinds of things that Iceland is now looking at in terms of getting into pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, biomedical types of applications, the scenarios are a little different and the innovation requirements are different. We need more entrepreneurial engagement.
I look at Iceland and what I see is young entrepreneurs coming out of university, and their energy is going into deriving more value from seafood because Iceland is singularly focused, in many ways, on seafood. We have entrepreneurs coming out of institutions here and they're looking at technology, they're looking at other sectors, and they're not looking at the seafood sector in terms of a value proposition.
I think we have to change that perception and get youth who are coming out of our universities and young entrepreneurs thinking more about that 450,000 metric tons of seafood I just mentioned earlier, and the fact that it's currently a waste product. I'm looking at that as an opportunity to derive value. We have to shift perspectives and become more entrepreneurial. I think the seafood sector would buy into that but it's going to mean newer players and younger innovators coming into the industry who are focusing on that value proposition for it to be successful.