Dr. Cecil Beamish:

Yes, from start to finish.

If we went for a much more stringent pre-application process, like there might be for another kind of development such as in terrestrial planning, where everything has to be absolutely perfect when submitted or it is sent back to the applicant, we could shorten times because we do spend a good bit of the licensing division's time straightening out applications with the applicant. It was a more friendly way of doing things.

Many of the traditional aquaculture operators are relatively small farms, new in the business or they were at one time. Much of the information they require would not be easily to hand privately. Traditionally, it is expensive to get. We helped with mapping and so on in the past. However, with the recommendation to go for a much more demanding pre-application process, the post-application process can certainly be shortened. When comparing one country with another, those are the kinds of things that might give different results.