Thank you. That's a great question.
I'm very familiar with British Columbia as well. I served a number of years out there with the military and I also worked out there as a salmon farmer.
I'll go back to the cod moratorium. We've seen hard times because of the fishery, before oil and gas and before aquaculture, and communities had out-migration no different from any other rural community but the degree to which it was happening in Newfoundland and Labrador was staggering. They moved to Fort McMurray, Toronto, anywhere but rural Newfoundland. We're still seeing that a little bit.
Aquaculture is a shining light. It benefits rural coastal communities and people see that. I'm not saying there are no critics or opponents to our industry. Every industry should have its critics as long as criticism is founded on science and fact, and not necessarily emotion. We accept that too, but I prefer to deal with the facts.
Here on the east coast right now, even with the downturn in oil and gas, I've seen an even higher level of acceptance of aquaculture as a sustainable farming operation. We need to do it. As Carey mentioned, the United Nations FAO has forecast a massive shortage of seafood in the future, in the not-so-distant future, in 2030. We're looking at a 50-million tonne to 80-million tonne deficit.
Why our government in particular has taken an interest in this is that they see it as a renewable resource that benefits Newfoundlanders and Labradorians from outside what we call the overpass, outside the metro city. It benefits Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in rural coastal communities, and because it's renewable we're here this year, next year, and every year after.