Yes, it is the very essence of stock assessments: they are based on work done in the field, inventories taken, and research done. In our stock assessment processes, we also invite fishers and people who are on the water to provide us with information and tell us what they have observed, to help us interpret the data collected.
Is there cod predation by seals? That is certainly the case. However, our work shows that in most cases, there are a lot of other factors that explain the weak re-establishment of cod populations. There are factors associated with food sources, such as the absence of capelin, their preferred prey. There are also factors associated with temperature. In other words, there are many factors other than just seals. We also notice that a number of other predators in the food chain in the marine environment have seen their populations grow at the same time as the seal population. So there is predation, but it is not necessarily exclusively by seals.