Absolutely. We'll start by talking about harvest methods themselves. The method that's currently advocated under the DFO system is essentially to shoot them. There's a three-step process involving shooting them, palpating, and bleeding them out, which is very good. What we've proposed, based on field tests that some of the harvesters have done, is a system for trapping the grey seals when they're hauled out. That would make the harvest more efficient. It would enable a much larger number of animals to be taken and held in an area without ending their lives. This allows for a more selective harvest, a more controlled harvest.
Then, we have various options at that point in terms of how to harvest and process the animals. You could look at using firearms, as has been done conventionally. You could look at using electricity, which is an internationally accepted humane method of harvesting. You could look at CO2 gas, which has also been tested extensively and widely approved as a humane method of harvesting.
In terms of the usage and the value realization, we'll break it down into blubber, pelts, and the remainder, for simplicity.
Blubber is by far the most valuable part of the animal. You get omega-3 oil from the blubber. It's a unique type of omega-3 that is only found in marine mammals and in human milk. One of the compounds is called DPA, docosapentaenoic acid. It's a unique omega-3 that can be derived. You can do it quite efficiently compared to other methods of deriving omega-3 from fish. There's a liquid market in the world. The market price of seal oil has risen dramatically in the last 18 months. It's very much a situation where there are more buyers than there is supply available. I say that the blubber is the most valuable part because it's the simplest part to derive value from and it has the clearest commodity-type liquid market for it.
Next in line in value would be the pelts. There are many options. We group our options and what we like to do with them into traditional aboriginal products, contemporary aboriginal products, and mainstream products. Under mainstream products, you have the fashion footwear and apparel segment, and accessories. There are some very high-value products made in this category. One of our corporate project partners is a gentleman named Bernie Halloran, who is a great guy. He's often considered the godfather of seal products. Nobody in Canada has worked with seal as long as he has. He's a great partner for us to have. He naturally has access to many markets. He has production capacity and a great deal of expertise. He's very much our partner and the go-to guy for contemporary products.
We have a renowned and critically acclaimed fashion designer who is Métis, Angela Demontigny. She is quite skilled at making both traditional aboriginal products and contemporary aboriginal products. We'd like to work with her under a program where we invite other aboriginal designers—aspiring designers perhaps—to participate. It offers a great scope of potential products that can be used.
Under our program, the way that we're looking at getting started means that to some extent those products would be used as showpieces as part of campaigns to build awareness of what we're doing, and the ecological reasons, the cultural traditions, and the aboriginal traditions that are underlying the harvest. That's value in the form of risk mitigation and awareness building. Certainly economic value from the sale of those products is also part of our equation.
In terms of the remainder, which encompasses meat, bones, blood, and organs—all the parts of the seal—there are options for those. Those options include using them as bait in the lobster and crab fisheries, which is interesting because it would reduce the burden on the herring stock. You're kind of getting a two-in-one benefit there. As you've reduced the population, you've created an alternative bait product. There's been testing done on the use of seal in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence as bait, both for lobster and crab, and that testing has shown promising results.
Alternatively, you could look at things like making liquid fertilizer, for which there is a growing market. We have examined this and it seemed there is viability in using the product to generate humic matter to support agriculture.
There are many options. All parts of the animal could be used for any of those last three and then, of course, there's the food market for the meat, which is part of the nutritional benefit that first nations and other people would gain from what we've proposed.