I'm well aware of the eminent panel. I was asked to appear, but was unable to do so. One of our processors took a tray of cod and haddock in that was loaded with worms to show one impact. I think that deserved about a paragraph in the eminent panel report. I understand one of the comments from some of the people on that was that it was just protein. There was nothing about the impact.
I realize that as fishermen and processors we don't have PhDs, but I've written a letter to The Navigator magazine in Newfoundland with some of these science questions on impact that we feel should be answered, that were not covered by the eminent panel. I believe that's because of the bias of the people on the panel.
I'll go over a couple of those questions. What is the impact on cod and other species of the growing infestation of seal worms that the industry is observing in fish caught in areas of high grey seal concentrations? What is the impact of the defensive behaviour of cod and other groundfish species in trying to avoid grey seal predation? If these species flee grey seal predation to deeper, colder, less feed-productive waters, what is the impact on the nutritional health of the fish? How can cod and other species spawn successfully on the shallow banks where there is a heavy concentration of grey seal predators present?
There are other questions that the eminent panel did not look at. The main thing they looked at was just how much cod they are consuming now that we have very few cod.