What we have a problem with here is that this run is endangered. Unfortunately, this run also comes in with the 17.5 million sockeye that aren't endangered. They're mixed in and we can't tell them apart, which means that when we catch the stock of abundance, we also catch the stock of concern. It really hamstrings our fishery.
The Commercial Salmon Advisory Board hired a biologist to have a look at the lake and see what we could do. Overfishing in the lake is not the problem, the problem is in the lake itself. We decided to put together a chunk of money and invest in enhancement in that lake to see if we could bring back that lake. Our biologist tells us that if we do this remedial work, we will have a better return in four years than if we don't even fish. So it's a major step forward.
We asked DFO if we could do this last year and we were flatly turned down. We're dusting it off and asking to do it this year. DFO told us last year, “If you can convince the natives on the river to do this, we'll support you; otherwise you're on your own.” This year we went around and talked to all the user groups. All the commercial fishing groups are onside. The Sportfishing Advisory Board is onside. The Native Brotherhood, which represents the 30% of commercial fishermen who are natives within our group, are onside. The ocean natives in Johnstone Strait are onside. The environmentalists wanted to hold us to 11% last year, but we're hearing that they could maybe go for 30% if we did all this remedial work.
The last ones to get onside were the in-river natives. We really didn't have much hope for that. With 97 bands on the Fraser River, it's quite a job. Nonetheless, last week our counterparts met with some native representatives, and they're meeting with them again later this week and next. The natives have questioned our science. We'll be busy next week exploring that science with them some more. They also want some recognition, in trade, that we recognize that they have some economic opportunities with these fish.
We have reluctantly agreed to this, but we have some provisos on it--that the fishery operates similar to our fishery, under the same rules, and that accountability is extremely important. Every fish has to be counted or we're all in trouble.
It looks like we may be able to pull enough support together to make this thing happen this year. It's really an exciting prospect. It must happen.