First, I'd start off by saying I don't believe that fish farms played any significant role in the loss of the fish returning this year. There is a bit of evidence around to say that they never even made it out of the Fraser River. The problem, as I mention in my brief, is that the stock assessment operating budget has been cut by 50%. Without the ability to do any stock assessment, we're dealing in voodoo boards. That's a problem.
The fish farms are here to stay. In my view, and in the view of a lot of people, they have not been managed well. There is very little oversight. I expect even less with the federal government taking over, because the recent report on habitat operations, which is the second in four years by the Auditor General, shows that they have no intention of dealing with the problems facing these issues and no ability to do so.
The problem is about far more than fish farms. As I stated, we need to develop a salmon plan. Everybody's talking about climate change today, about carbon, and saying that we have to do this. Nobody's saying that this is going to happen no matter what we do, so what are our options now? What does this mean for our salmon fish production in 30 years? What should we do to mitigate this? Or can we? Can we save the jobs? Should we save the jobs? Can we increase the jobs? I think we can, but it takes planning and it takes investment, and we're getting none of either.