Thank you very much.
I did a search on Google just before coming back to this aspect... The first time I learned about the existence of aquaculture and that it could be something of great interest was when a company set up business in Chaleur Bay in my region at St-Omer, a lovely spot in our area. The company was called Baie des Chaleurs Aquaculture Inc. It was during the 1980s. At that time, if I remember correctly, they had set up the pools right next to the company, close to the shore, and later on, the same pools were installed inside the factory. In other words, they were installed on land and supplied with salt water. This was during the 1980s, I do not know exactly when; I was just looking for some information about this.
Thus, attempts have been made. And to my knowledge, the project was aborted not because it could not make a profit or anything like that, but because the company had developed too fast. Parasites set in along with diseases and the company's financial capabilities were not sufficient to quickly face this catastrophic situation. But this did not exclude the possibility of practising aquaculture. I think that they were working with salmon or with speckled trout and they were working in enclosed pools, but with a supply of salt water. This makes me think that for all kinds of reasons, aquaculture failed in some places, but it succeeded in other places. Clearly, in British Columbia, it has been a success, because we hear about it and we know that the installations are quite impressive.
To come back to the subject that we discussed a bit earlier, namely that there was no aquaculture in enclosed pools, do the things that I say remind you of some elements, even if you have to revisit what you told me a bit earlier? Not at all? All right.
I respectfully submit this question to you, and I think it would be interesting for you to take a close look at it. I know that eventually, you might come back before this committee, and we will have another opportunity to exchange opinions about these things, but I would be very interested to know what you think.
Regarding salmon lice, to my knowledge, the products they are using are chemical. Have any new products been developed? Are they potentially less dangerous than the products currently used against salmon lice?