Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the committee for allowing me to sit in the place of my colleague.
Thank you to the witnesses for your interesting testimony.
I recognize that I'm jumping into this study rather late in the game. I am familiar with some of the issues, obviously, as I represent northwest B.C. The health of our fisheries and this debate over marine mammal populations and their potential impact on fish are something to which many people are paying attention.
Perhaps I'll address my questions to Dr. Walters.
You began by stating that you feel there are twice as many seals and sea lions on the coast today as there have been in thousands of years. Because I've read elsewhere that there's a degree of uncertainty about the historical populations, I'm wondering what data this conclusion is based on.