Boats are constantly increasing in size, which is causing congestion in the Magdalen Islands. Some forty boats will need to use Transport Canada infrastructure instead of the Fisheries and Oceans infrastructure, which represents a very serious problem. On the Magdalen Islands, expansion work enabling the provision of adequate service to 40 or 50 additional boats would cost over $10 million. It is essential to also consider the fact that increasing boat size means larger drafts.
So, dredging will be increasingly necessary in order to enable these boats to enter current harbours. Whether we like it or not, dredging is quite costly. Furthermore, there are many more requirements related to energy consumption, in particular. This is creating numerous problems for port authorities. Costs are ever increasing. I would like to mention, for example, the fact that about a dozen boats are so large that they have to remain in the water, in the ice, because they cannot be taken out and dry-docked. This is creating many problems.