Thank you Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, in October of last year, the minister assessed northern cod as being out of the critical zone and into the cautious zone and she said it has been so since 2016. One fish processor in Newfoundland and Labrador who relies solely on codfish to run his operation told me that, as a result, eight years of opportunity to have higher cod quotas has been lost. He's had to rely heavily on imported Norwegian cod. The FFAW has asked you to increase the northern cod quota from 13,000 tonnes to 25,000 tonnes, and the Atlantic Groundfish Council has asked for that quota to be increased to 26,000 tonnes.
Will you agree to either of these requests to increase the quota on northern cod in the upcoming season—yes or no, Minister?