In1992 outlaw fishing boats began illegally harvesting lobsters from theterritorial waters of the country of Belukia. Soon after, the annual tonnage oflobster legally harvested in Belukian waters began declining; in 1996, despitethere being no reduction in the level of legal lobster fishing activity, thelocal catch was 9,000 tons below pre-1992 levels. It is therefore highly likelythat the outlaw fishing boats harvested about 9,000 tons of lobster illegallythat year.
Whichof the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A. The illegal lobster harvesting was not so extensive thatthe population of catchable lobsters in Belukia’s territorial waters hadsharply declined by 1996
B. The average annual lobster catch, in tons, of an outlawfishing boat is has increased steadily since 1992.
C. Outlaw fishing boats do not, as a group, harvest morelobsters than do licensed lobster-fishing boats.
D. The annual legal lobster harvest in Belukia in 1996 was notsignificantly less than 9,000 tons.
E. A significant proportion of Belukia’s operators of licensedlobster-fishing boats were out of business between 1992 and 1996
