I'll be very brief. I realize we're running short on time.
I just wanted to add to the discussion about the closed containment pilot project that has been mentioned to the committee a couple of times in past presentations. This is the Marine Harvest commitment to learning more about the status of closed containment and what it can do for the commercial production of farmed salmon.
I'd just like to say that it is true that most of the large-scale production attempts have not met with success, but that doesn't mean we're not committed to continuing to investigate how we can move this technology forward.
One of the key things that has happened in the past is that if these projects haven't continued, we have no data to look at. We have no way to build on the experience. What Marine Harvest's pilot project intends to do is to document all of the information about the project's construction and operation, as well as the quality of the fish as they go through a recirculating aquaculture systems project. It will be successful. We are already using these projects in British Columbia. We already have experience with this technology. What we need is to have solid documentation that we can bring into the mix so that everyone can learn about how we can take this technology forward.
This project is in the design phase of development at this point in time. We've been working very closely with environmental groups in British Columbia over a period of five or six years. We're currently at a point of developing project funding, both internal and external, and I would ask that the federal government consider extending support for this project as we bring it forward.
I said I'd be brief, so I'll just finally mention that we have one other call for federal support in British Columbia. Ruth has mentioned that we have good control over sea lice. We have achieved that control by using one product in the ocean; that good control is a result of the careful and judicious use of the product SLICE, but we need access to other therapeutants and other products in order to continue to have effective sea lice control in the ocean as we go forward. We need federal support for developing additional products for a full and integrated pest management plan.
That said, I'll go back to you, Ruth.