Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to make a comment in this debate about the impact of the waste from salmon production on benthic organisms. It's certainly not my understanding that the impact on the benthic is a net positive just because there are more prawns. In fact, the industry has done a very good job of reducing the waste falling onto the benthic.
That was big, and it was due to a provincial regulation requiring that. That regulation was needed because some of the areas were being permanently damaged. There was essentially no life on the seabed floor in places where there was too much waste falling in areas that didn't have a strong current. This is something the industry has been working to manage over the last 10 years. They've been cooperating with the regulations of the provincial governments. That's just a note that this should not be dismissed as one of the costs, one of the prices, and one of the risk factors of net-pen salmon farming.
I'm interested in what you see as a potential transition towards land-based farming that would include the current investors and the companies producing salmon through open-net pen. I think that the British Columbians who have those 6,000 jobs, the business community, and certainly all of us who are interested in the economy of British Columbia are not looking to put out of business companies that are doing their best to manage, mitigate, and limit negative impacts.
At the same time, there are some factors that aren't priced in yet, and it looks as though an industry is developing that is going to show a real positive alternative.
Dr. Wright, you were saying that we need to get on this to have first-mover advantage, so how far behind are we now? What are you suggesting the government do to assist with the transition to a lower-risk means of raising our salmon in a way that can still be economically viable? How does one do that without subsidizing individual businesses? Also, have you thought to the next step about what you would be advising provincial and federal governments to have in terms of a regime in order to have a win-win transition?