Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And thank you both for coming today.
One of the reasons I asked you to appear before the committee is because we had Dr. William Brodie, the senior science coordinator and advisor for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, appear before our committee. Obviously, quotas negotiated by NAFO countries are based, I assume, on scientific advice.
Dr. Lotze, you indicated that we have a lack of knowledge or assessment on the invertebrate species. Does that comment refer to strictly to within Canada, or internationally? Because the evidence we were given.... He says here: “The scientific council provides advice to the fisheries commission on 18 stocks of fish and invertebrate species.” So this is information that is provided to the commission. You've indicated that we don't have enough information on invertebrate species, yet the scientific council is providing advice to the fisheries commission on these species.
So is it possible that the scientific council is providing advice to the commission, thus to the countries that are exploiting these resources, based on information that is not complete? My concern is that if you're exploiting a species of fish, either inside or outside the 200-mile limit, if you don't have the comprehensive scientific knowledge, is it possible you're fishing a stock in a method that could be quite dangerous to that particular stock?