Professor Mark Johnson:

I thank the Chairman and members for the invitation to speak to the committee. I will speak on behalf of my colleague, Dr. Maeve Edwards, who may wish to add to my contribution.

Clearly the committee has investigated these issues and I do not wish to repeat many of the topics on which the committee has reached a consensus. We provided a statement and from it one can see that we have much in common with BIM on how we see the issues arising in the industry and what might be needed to take them forward in terms of partnerships and aid for the industry.

I will give a brief outline of my background, which may be helpful to members to know when we are answering questions. My background is broad in terms of role of seaweeds in the ecosystem, how seaweeds grow and what eats seaweeds. Dr. Edwards has that knowledge as well but she has come up through the aquaculture route, so she has worked on a number of aquaculture projects, specifically growing seaweeds.