You know, there's no excuse that after 30 years we don't know how many seals are out there. Each different species should have been counted by now. They should have been counted multiple times by now. In order to know the impact, you need to know how many there are. You need to know the daily diet. You need to know their spatial distribution. These are all things that DFO science needs to focus on.
If you're from Newfoundland and Labrador, it's basically been a conflict between the industry, fishers and our DFO science when it comes to talking about seals and discussion on seals. You can do any type of search and you'll find the statements from our DFO science; basically, they go against what industry is saying. There needs to be more dialogue. There needs to be more openness and more transparency.
We've had regulations on our fishery throughout Atlantic Canada and very little fishing activity. If you have a moratorium for 30 years and you don't have a northern cod recovery, why is that? You have to ask yourself why. You know, 12,000 tonnes is not a fishery. I've been to Iceland many times. Most plants in Iceland process 20,000 tonnes individually. Norway has a quota of around 900,000 tonnes annually of cod. They don't have a crisis, but they don't have a seal problem. Iceland has 25,000 seals.
We need to look hard. We need to know how many seals are there. In the case of harbour seals, we need to get into the rivers. I can show you hundreds of photos of hundreds of seals living in a river year-round. I've had DFO science tell me they have no impact on salmon populations. That's not true.
We need to find the answers.