Certainly. This really falls under Transport Canada predominantly, and they are responsible for regulating ballast water in Canadian waters. New ballast water regulations did come into force in June 2006, and these regulations meet the standards set out in the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments.
In terms of the Great Lakes themselves, I know there is a great amount of angst at this particular time. Again, I believe that will come up at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. In particular now, especially in the United States, there is concern that the ships coming from salt water are permitted to come into the fresh water of the Great Lakes and what this is doing. I know we will be discussing that.
The role of DFO science in this is really to provide scientific advice to Transport Canada in this regard. For example, we have looked at alternative exchange zones for exchange of ballast water off Nova Scotia and in and around the Laurentian Channel. We will also be, in the coming year, looking at an alternative zone around Newfoundland. We are looking to a demonstration of real-time risk assessment system for ballast water exchange and evaluating other vectors. There's a lot of interest in this, and we are working closely with Transport Canada, closely with the Province of Ontario, and certainly closely with our U.S. colleagues, through the commission.