Fisheries committee  I would ask Dr. Hammill to comment on that.

Fisheries committee  Yes, the science has evolved. We have new tools that didn't exist 20 years ago in looking at the DNA and looking at the fatty acid analyses that help us have a very good measurement understanding of the prey relationship across the entire marine ecosystem. That has helped us to start documenting the key prey-predator relationships between the stocks.

Fisheries committee  Yes, it's a question of evolving environment science and capacity as well. We focus our efforts—

Fisheries committee  I agree that it's a significant gap in our knowledge. We are working on that. To put things into context, there is very little harvesting of the hooded seal. Our estimate of the population is smaller than the major population of harp seals. I agree with the member. The work is ongoing to address that gap.

Fisheries committee  There are several uncertainties, overall, in terms of estimating the consumption of prey by seals. This is one of many uncertainties associated with differences in season, time of sampling, specific age and relationship. We concur with the Norwegians in the overall scope. The seals are one of the key predators in the marine ecosystems, along with other groundfish, cetaceans and seabirds.

Fisheries committee  I don't have an exact number for the tonnage, but it's a large number. It's in the order of tens of thousands of—

Fisheries committee  The hooded seal is one of the species we haven't been able to assess regularly. We have an estimate from, if I recall correctly, more than five years ago. We are currently allocating resources to do the survey, including doing research work and using our recent harp seal survey as a source of data for hooded seals.

Fisheries committee  The bearded seal population is one for which there is no commercial harvest in the Atlantic. We don't have a full estimate of—

Fisheries committee  Again, that's a gap we will address through the years. In terms of impacts on the health of crab stocks off the Labrador coast, the stock is healthy in that area. Again, the bearded seal is one of the other predators in the marine ecosystem we have to look at when we compare the predation.

Fisheries committee  Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. It's a pleasure to be joining you here in Ottawa on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people to discuss with you the work Fisheries and Oceans is conducting on pinnipeds. My name is Bernard Vigneault.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Member. There are a range of collaborations including direct collaboration. The harvesters are actually providing support for the science endeavours with compensation by collecting the actual samples that are required for the assessment. They are also involved in the science advice and in the other steps of the process where we're involved.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. Yes, I think it's fundamental to have the science available to all, so that they can look at it and contribute to it. From the peer review at CSAS, hundreds of advice are published yearly on top of several hundred scientific publications. We have more than 450 datasets, including data that are used for a full range of decision-making—not just for fishery but implementation of the Impact Assessment Act and others.

Fisheries committee  Thank you very much for the question. Yes, we ensure that at different steps of the process. I mentioned earlier the collaboration with the industry stakeholders. There's also lots of ongoing collaboration with the indigenous organizations right from the start, in designing research activities or collaborating with us on the surveying and data gathering.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. I was referring to the summary of the fisheries management-led advisory committee. First, the science sector is not involved. It's a neutral summary of the inputs that were received. When we provide science advice, the industry representatives provide expertise to the peer review, and that's part of the consensus-based advice that's produced after the peer review process.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. Yes. By definition, the science process is an iterative process that makes an interpretation based on what's available at the time. We always make sure that we—