Mr. Stephen Kavanagh:

First and foremost, fishing pressure needs to be balanced with the resource that is being fished. To give the committee an example from the restoration world, Chesapeake Bay is now in year ten of its oyster restoration. The worth of blue crab fishery has increased by $5 million and the fishermen are ecstatic about that. Blue crab is a major fishery for them and a local culinary delight. Whelk fishermen in Wales are calling for oyster reef restoration because they know that whelk catches will increase if oyster reef restoration goes ahead. The fishing industry can be brought along, including, importantly, the processing side of the fishing industry. We must ensure they can see the benefits of the restoration of kelp forest and oyster reefs and are educated about the spillover effects from these areas and the catches that are by-products. Whelks and crabs are natural predators of oysters. There is a beautiful synergy there between the fishing fleet on the east coast and what we are trying to do. Those fishermen will protect the oysters and, ultimately, if the oyster reef and oyster beds can be restored, they can, in turn, also be fished because if an oyster bed is not fished, it can become a tenement where disease can be rife. They must be fished. That is what we are trying to restore. The fishing industry must be central to all our restoration efforts. It has to be on board. There is no point in us going out and putting reefs out there just before they get started because fishermen will wipe them out with a trawl. The fishing industry absolutely must be a part of the solution.