From my perspective and from the different forums I've been involved in, when aquaculture blew up to be a very politically sensitive issue, it very clearly seemed advantageous for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to acknowledge that it was a provincial issue.
Then we got to a point in time when it was clear that ownership of aquaculture was going to shift back to the jurisdictional control of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Throughout that window of time and even through the window of transition that we're going through now, when the department was asked for formal advice or positions on aquaculture, it was initially deferred to the province.
I appreciate that the department is doing a lot of work and investing a lot of resources in trying to set up the regulatory process and all the administrative measures necessary to administer aquaculture really from scratch. Still, the sense we've been getting is one of “We'll talk to you when we're done”, so we're still not getting a lot of information on the issues that are pertinent to the day.
In December, when that is up and running, hopefully that process will change and they'll be a little more transparent in the information flow, and I'm hoping that things such as better-balanced reviews of current science and past science, which tend to get bandied around and used and misused, will get a little better forum.