Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'd like to welcome our visitors. It's nice to see you here, and it's nice to have this discussion.
I just want to make a couple of comments in reaction to what a couple of your speakers have said.
I want to make it clear from the very outset that we're all very concerned about sustainable fisheries--very, very concerned. It's one of our major objectives as a committee and for me as a member of Parliament representing a predominantly fishing riding in Newfoundland and Labrador. So sustainable fisheries is a big priority for us.
Of course, very closely connected, directly linked to sustainable fisheries, is sustainable communities and sustaining our rural populations. A big factor in that is a rapidly growing seal herd that consumes a tremendous amount of fish resource of some type, whether it's cod, or crab, or shrimp, or whatever. It's one humungous amount of fish resource.
I'm not saying that seals are the only factor in our diminishing fish stocks, but it's certainly a very important factor with the amount of fish resource that they consume.
The gentleman to my left talked about sexual maturity of seals, about taking them so young and how long it takes them to become sexually mature. If you look at a seal herd that has gone from two million to six million over the last decade or so, it's obvious that there is a lot of sexual maturity amongst the seal herd. I don't think that's a matter of major concern, that they're not sexually mature enough to reproduce.
Science tells us that a seal herd of two million animals is sustainable. We're now at six million, according to science. That's only harp seals, by the way. That's not including the grey seals that our chairman alluded to, or the hooded seals, or the harbour seals. They're in addition to the six million harp seals that we say are in the ocean today, consuming these fish resources.
There are a number of issues. We've had a moratorium on cod since 1991 or 1992. We've taken some tough measures in this country and in my province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Again, I repeat, one of the biggest struggles we have is sustaining and maintaining our rural way of life, and managing the seal herd in a humane fashion is vitally important to rebuilding our stocks.
Our chairman has alluded to income. If any of us in this room--any of us, not only the politicians but the staff and everyone else--had to try to live on what those people live on, they would consider their income from sealing to be very significant. If you were to lose a quarter or more of a $20,000 to $25,000 income, it would mean having butter for your bread or none, or maybe not having any bread.
So that's the battle, and that's why we have chosen this study.
There are two reasons. One reason is the impact of the seal population on fish resources--and we feel that we owe it to the world, by the way, to rebuild those fish stocks. It's not just Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, Atlantic Canadians and Canadians. We think we owe it to this great world to rebuild that tremendous protein resource that has been there for generations.
I think I'll conclude my remarks there.