Thank you for that, Mr. Murray.
To the minister, in your statement you alluded to the aquaculture infusion of funds in the south coast, to Cooke Aquaculture, by your department and the provincial government, which is tremendous news. I want to thank your department and you for your interest in that.
I know you've been quite involved with Cooke Aquaculture, so I applaud your efforts for a region that is very economically depressed as a result of diminished cod stocks, particularly, but also other diminished fish resources as well. No doubt, this will have a big impact on that region of the south coast, with the closure of the Harbour Breton plant by Fishery Products International, the closure of the Fortune plant by Fishery Products International, ongoing negotiations between Fishery Products International and the FFAW regarding the reopening--hopefully--of the Marystown groundfish plant.
My question is--and I asked you this some time ago--even though we're going to see aquaculture farm fish there, which will make a difference, if indeed negotiations fail--which we hope they don't, we hope they resolve themselves quickly--between FPI and the union, there's a tremendous amount of groundfish resources that are allocated to FPI that have not been utilized for a significant period of time, and really that could complement the farm fish for the communities that have traditionally used this groundfish quota.
So would you share with the committee what your thoughts are on this in view of the length of time it's been since those groundfish quotas were harvested? There doesn't seem to be a resolution. I'm wondering if you could share with the committee your thoughts on this.