Much of the fishing that we expend, much of the growth that you have seen, is not needed for our harvest. Most of it is the result of competition between different countries that want to fish, to bring the fish to their country, rather than see it going to another country.
We could make do with about one-quarter of the fishing capacity that we have. Each boat is actually losing money. Internationally, lots of the international fleets that are operating are kept afloat only by government subsidies.
We are wasting a huge amount of fish for two reasons. About 10 to 15 tonnes per million tonnes of fish are discarded every year as part of the regular fisheries operations, including in Canada. That is the standard operating procedure, including for cod in a shrimp fishery.
Another enormous source of waste is the use of food fish for making fishmeal. Every time you eat salmon, you are actually eating mackerel and sardines that have been turned into fishmeal for salmon, a food that sells at a higher price. We waste an enormous amount of food that way—about one-third of the world catch is turned into fishmeal and wasted that way.