Fisheries committee  Absolutely. There's no question now in British Columbia that they're able to deal with amendments, that they're able to be open for new applications, and that this is directly related to new markets. Any time you have growth, you need to align that growth with market development, so companies will be doing this, the two at the same time, and the EU just starts to look so much more attractive than it has in the past.

Fisheries committee  The projections made on growth, first of all, sound like a lot. In fact, the kind of growth we're talking about is measured growth and it's partly because of marketing. It would be unwise to grow in a huge way and try to dump a lot of product on the market. It's important that if we begin to grow again in Canada we do it in a staged and measured approach.

Fisheries committee  Again, It all comes back down to growth. Because of the agreement we'll see some shifting of markets because then the EU starts to look really attractive. For example, the majority of our product goes to the U.S. and Canada. North America is our major market, there's no question, because we can ship fresh product in a short period of time and that gives us that competitive advantage towards, for example, Chile.

Fisheries committee  I think that we do have opponents who don't feel that it would ever be strict enough. But when you look at what this industry is, the level of requirements, the level of monitoring, the level of reporting that's required, when we've done internal reviews compared to other countries we're certainly at the top.

Fisheries committee  You have to realize that this is a global industry. Because we're here, we think we're the only ones who have issues in our industry. But, in fact, other countries as well have fish health issues. Escapements, for example, have gone down globally. This industry is not that old. It's 35 years old.

Fisheries committee  That's right.

Fisheries committee  You have.

Fisheries committee  Right.

Fisheries committee  I don't have a number for mussels. It would be in the 11% to 25% range, but I can get that for you specifically. I know that a couple of my members who farm mussels in P.E.I. are currently doing some vacuum-packed mussels. As soon as the tariffs are reduced, they're looking to make that a significant market.

Fisheries committee  Everybody is watching it very closely and is very excited about the possibility of what that will mean.

Fisheries committee  To go back to your first question, we're happy at any time to talk about the industry. We'd always be open to having that discussion, and so would—

Fisheries committee  Absolutely.

Fisheries committee  We've been well studied, but we're happy to share more.

Fisheries committee  Oh, absolutely. When you get into discussions around fish health, it's a global issue. ISA is not a Canadian problem. Fish health, as with any other agricultural commodity, deals with health issues. I would say that we have a very good system of early detection so that we can minimize and reduce the spread.

Fisheries committee  I'm happy to address it. I don't have the specifics in terms of each product, but certainly exporting for us is anywhere between 11% and 25%. My understanding is that most of the competing products coming in don't have that high a level, so from all my discussions with members, whether they're salmon or mussels, they're at a competitive disadvantage.