Fisheries committee  I'm not sure that I said we haven't taken advantage of it. What I meant to say was that industry will be the first to take advantage of something if it's appropriate or the right thing to do. When you look at all the levels of changes in technology—whether it's systems for the farm, monitoring systems, environmental testing systems, or cage strength—there are so many different types of technology that industry will move to quickly.

Fisheries committee  I wouldn't be able to comment on that until we actually saw the proposal, but in general the industry is supportive of and invests in research and development, so it certainly is a possibility.

Fisheries committee  We do; there are several. Dalhousie University just announced a chair of sustainable aquaculture, and it is being funded in part by industry. So there certainly are universities that are doing work. Of course, DFO is doing work as well. I would say that there is less production-oriented or practically oriented research; much of the research is more regulatory.

Fisheries committee  I would say that even in terms of feed Canada is doing some very good research in cooperation with feed research centres in Chile and feed research centres in Norway. I would have to get back to you on this question, but we certainly have a sense of what's going on. This is not to say that we don't have research going on in Canada; I just think that we could do more in that production-related stream.

Fisheries committee  Rainbow trout is an obvious one and Arctic char is another. Even species that we haven't even grown in Canada yet—tilapia is another one that we're involved in.... I think that you can even see new species starting out if we had that energy to start growing and diversifying to new species.

Fisheries committee  One of the things just right off the top that needs to be refined is licence and lease terms. We feel it needs to be consistent across the country. In some provinces it's as much as 20 years, and in some provinces it's an annual licence. Those are the kinds of things that I think DFO is open to looking at.

Fisheries committee  It's a good question. Last year, over $500 million was invested in salmon farming aquaculture globally. The majority of our companies in British Columbia are part of international companies. Those companies are also investing in Norway, Chile, and Scotland. Even our companies on the east coast are also investing in other areas besides Canada.

Fisheries committee  That's absolutely correct. Our industry takes pressure off the wild stocks, and that's an important piece. We know it's aquaculture that's going to meet this growing demand and we can do that, and we can do that sustainably. It's an important thing.

Fisheries committee  It's huge. We haven't even examined the potential there because we're focused on getting a foundation for some of the other more existing products. When we talk about potential for aquaculture, it's not just on the two coasts. It's in every province and there are all kinds of lakes that can have aquaculture and lots of land-based facilities that could augment existing agricultural operations.

Fisheries committee  I agree. I think it may allude to my answer a while back. There are challenges in any kind of farming operation, whether it's health of the animal or pest control or a number of things. Globally the industry is experiencing, and moving forward on, all those fronts. Yes, we are challenged with sea lice; so are other countries.

Fisheries committee  I think I mentioned to you that we've launched this national strategy and are working closely with DFO and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to look at what reforms are needed. We've developed a policy document that we tabled in November with DFO. We're looking at all the line items of things that we think need to be changed, and they agree.

Fisheries committee  So I think it does provide that huge opportunity for us to have a bigger role in it, and at the same time provide a healthy, high quality product. I think that deficit does provide a real opportunity for us.

Fisheries committee  No, it's a good question. That's going to be a very helpful move because there has been no growth in British Columbia, and British Columbia does have a lot of potential to grow both shellfish and finfish. This just is back to business as usual whereby companies can submit amendments for greater efficiencies, changes, look at new sites.

Fisheries committee  There are just a couple of examples, because now we know more than we did in the eighties in terms of what makes a good site, and so with no ability to make changes...we, in a couple of cases, can now make some changes that will be environmentally sustainable changes. It just requires that ability for government to accept amendments.

Fisheries committee  To date the viability is not there. So if we're looking to increase production to service new markets and to help Canada move forward, it's not the area that's going to give it to us immediately because there's still a lot of work to be done, as your colleague said earlier. So I think it's important that we do that work and we continue to do research, and then both will be able to move forward.