Thank you.
We had testimony a few weeks ago, Dr. Carr, from the director of the Canadian Sportfishing Industry Association, who comes from the United States but lives in Canada now. He was talking about their sister organization, the American Sportfishing Association, regarding the California MPA. I'm going to quote from his testimony here. He said this is how the American Sportfishing Association saw the example of the California process:
The only option considered was closures, no-take zones, permanent no fishing, no extractive use of any kind. That was the agenda.
This is an example, the central coast of California, and the impact was significant. Even though it looks on a map as though it's not that big an area, anybody who fishes knows that fish don't live everywhere. They are in certain prime habitat. It
—meaning the MPA process—
targeted prime habitat areas, over 40% of the best sport fishing areas in state waters out to the three-mile limit, and the impact on the economy was significant.
The boating industry and the vehicle industry had an even greater impact in a negative way.
Would you agree with Mr. Morlock that the establishment of the California MPAs had a significant negative economic impact on the multi-million dollar sportfishing industry in California?