Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for coming. You've'e made a compelling case, and we appreciate your taking the time to be here.
You're here, I suppose, for a number of reasons, but part of it, I'm sure, is that you're interested in making a living. It's difficult to do so now, with the current price. I just want to be clear, in my mind, about the basic economics here.
My understanding is that the landing in tonnes of spawn-on-kelp hasn't changed much in the last several years. You can correct me if I'm wrong, but was it not 400 tonnes of spawn-on-kelp....in, say, 1996...? I don't see, according to the figures I've seen, that that's changed in recent years. It would seem that the supply coming out of the industry hasn't changed very much from the Canadian side.
Now, basic economics says that the price has collapsed, but that's due to supply and demand. Has the supply changed? Has it increased from Alaska or Russia, say, to push down the price, or do you know if the demand has changed internationally? Are the Japanese not so fond of spawn-on-kelp any more, as they used to be in, say, 1996?