Thank you for that question, Ms. Barron.
As I mentioned, there are a couple of things we've been hearing from members, regarding wharves and stages. How high do we need to build those, now? What is high enough? Some people relayed the numbers to me along the way. At one point, a wharf or stage eight feet above the high-water mark was fine. They carried on like that for years and years without an issue. Apparently, that's no longer fine. In one of our communities, we had a 140-year-old heritage structure that withstood 140 years of storms on the southwest coast of Newfoundland, which is not a very hospitable place at the best of times. Fiona destroyed it. In a matter of a couple of hours, it was destroyed.
We know that what we have is not good enough, anymore, because it's all gone. That shoreline was wiped clean. Therefore, we need a different approach. We need to engage experts in marine infrastructure and engineering to get that technology and those techniques in place.
Wharf and stage height is one thing. Another thing harvesters in the area have constantly mentioned is breakwaters. I think we saw, in some of the presentations last week on Cape Breton and P.E.I., that dredging is super important in some areas. However, dredging of the bottom, for the substrate type we have in that area of Newfoundland.... It's not so much dredging that's important. Breakwaters are incredibly important in that area. We need to look at the newest technology and techniques in breakwater construction, so the shorelines and the infrastructure itself—those wharves and stages—are adequately protected.