Thank you.
I'm particularly concerned about the cuts to science, which have also been experienced by scientists from British Columbia who have spoken to me. One of the key things constituents and people concerned about the fisheries in British Columbia are asking for is a restoration of funding for science.
We know there's an inadequacy in the science, both for issues like sea lice impacts on wild salmon and in terms of the salmon more broadly. Scientists will say there's a “black box” in terms of what's going on with the fish. It's a huge concern to see that science budget cut in these estimates.
Lastly, I do have some questions. We've been dealing with the snow crab decision, to reduce the snow crab allowable catch. The minister took a decision in 2009 that had a major risk of steepening the decline in the biomass of snow crab.
Could the minister tell the committee what advice she took that led to the maintaining of the allowable catch even though the scientists had warned there was almost a 50% chance of a significant steepening in the biomass decline, which did come out? Who influenced the minister's decision on this matter in deciding against the scientific advice?