Dr. Raul Ugarte:

I am the research scientist for Acadian Seaplants. Several important comments were made. The reason we asked for a large portion of the resource is that we believe the seaweed is not only the raw material for the industry. In Canada, we take a precautionary approach. Seaweed is also a habitat and it is very important. It is not only a raw material to be used in the in the industry. Dozens of different species benefit from that habitat and some of the species are commercially important. They feed on the resource or they hide in the resource for protection. Therefore, we need an area that is relatively large so, in Canada we apply a very low exploitation rate to maintain the habitat.

In Canada, it is very difficult to detect where the habitat is. Therefore, we go to the same area year after year - three, five or seven years. We harvest in the same location because we apply a very low exploitation rate to preserve not only the resource but the habitat which is so important for other fisheries. This is the kind of management that will eventually apply.

I do not think there is anything wrong because the resource has been preserved for generations but my experience of 30 years in seaweed management tells me that every time competition arrives in a country, over-exploitation occurs. That happened in Chile, Peru and even in Canada. There is no mechanical harvesting in Canada anymore. Everything is done by hand. We maximise employment and we guarantee the resource is maintained for the resource itself and for other species.