I think in the ecosystem—if you look at how these work and the ecosystem on the east coast—there's a certain amount of productivity. There's phytoplankton, which turns into zooplankton, which turns into capelin or sand lance, and it finds its way somewhere into the ecosystem.
What we're seeing is that there's no extra food or extra growth in the system, so we probably have a question of balance with very large marine mammal populations at a time when it's probably due to overfishing. I'm not blaming seals for the decline, but I think they're preventing a recovery.
I've been around fisheries as a marine biologist, and I've set up scientific organizations for the past 45 years. I don't say that very lightly, because I don't have a lot of scientific evidence, but seals are impacting cod and capelin. In the two years I spent studying the science and identifying where the gap was, and in the 45 years I've spent watching this fishery collapse, rebuild and collapse, I believe there is an impact.
Our recommendation was that DFO science focus on the offshore areas, throughout the range of harp seals and grey seals and throughout the season. It's that important. If it is having an impact, it needs to be identified, and the current sampling won't identify it.