In terms of core multispecies science surveys...and for those of you who don't understand it, every year the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans does a spring and fall survey, which they call a multispecies survey. They'll go out, all the way from the coast of Labrador to the southern Grand Banks, and do a multispecies survey over a period of two to three months.
For the past four years, starting with COVID in 2020, with aging vessel issues, labour issues, new vessel issues and calibration issues, there have been gaps during which complete surveys were missed, at times partial surveys were completed, and at times surveys were completed but data was not admissible because [Technical difficulty—Editor] if you wish.
That has a major impact, because these surveys lead into the assessments and lead into the science recommendations. From those, managers will make recommendations to the minister for decisions. That's the foundation for the $1.4-billion seafood industry we have in Newfoundland and the $8.8-billion industry we have across the country. When there are gaps, an ultraprecautionary approach is often applied and the outcome of that is usually quota reductions. That's our concern. This is well known, and I've spoken about this at FOPO on several occasions. I just had a call with Fisheries and Oceans, before I came here, on this very topic, and it's an area of concern, no doubt.