I want the allocation that we have for 10,000 grey seals over two years, which will expire. We need that continued and perhaps increased if we're able to supply the market. I anticipate that we'll handle the problems that we have with harvesting the animals.
We need a scientific forum where we can discuss the grey seals in particular—not harp seals, but grey seals—and what their impact on the ecosystem and the commercial fishery is. The industry needs to participate in that. The eminent panel called a few industry people, but very few. It was mostly scientists and the scientific community, but no foreign scientists.
When I was in Iceland, the people basically laughed at what we're doing. We're allowing our industry to be destroyed. They would never do that over there. A scientist said that if they managed their fishery the way we do, they'd be living in mud huts.
In a review of the restricted areas, you have to realize that harp seals and grey seals are different. We don't harvest grey seals on ice. They have to be harvested on islands and coastlines. They're going to be harvested differently, so we need some help with that.
We're in the process of outfitting a boat for harvesting large animals. You can imagine the problems with shooting an 800-pound to 1,000-pound male. We have a couple of sealers or fishermen who do this, and then we have to get that animal on the boat off an island, we have to eviscerate it, and we have to put it in cold storage. It's going to take a special configuration of a boat for that harvest.
We need the province and DFO to work with the industry. This meat thing is a big opportunity for us. I was told that because of avian flu in China, they are looking for other forms of meat protein. The possibility is there. We could do 20 to 100 containers, and that's times 40,000 pounds of meat.
Finally, in the management of the grey seals, we need a target level for the population that we're trying to attain. I think it's about 50% of the population level that we have now. Over five years, we'd like to see the population reduced by 50% so that the impact on the ecosystem, the commercial fish stocks, and our commercial fishery would be less severe.