Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you all for coming today.
I have a couple of things, one of them for our researcher. Regarding the announcement of the opening of the crab season for areas 12, 18, 25, and 26 the other day, our researcher found it just a little difficult to find the information about it. In fact we got the initial information from a gentleman who was presenting on that area.
I ask this out of ignorance. Is there a way that plans announced for various fishing seasons can be in a central repository that's easy to access, not only for our researcher but for our own staff to be able to get that information fairly quickly, if possible, without having to hunt it down?
Concerning the estimates, various funds come from the Pacific Salmon Treaty that help in conservation efforts on the west coast. I realize that the exact figures can't be in the estimates, because they're not approved by Treasury Board but come from another area. Is it not possible to have a reference in the estimates to where we can find that information and ascertain where those funds actually went, so that in case people from the west coast ask us questions, we can have the information fairly readily available?
I have a question to ask on behalf of my colleague Catherine Bell, who represents Vancouver Island North. She works with various salmon conservation groups, and one of the concerns they have is the seal predation on their stocks in some of these rivers. They fear that they're spending all this time just growing seal food, because the seals are getting quite abundant on the west coast. They're having a bit of a challenge working with DFO, ascertaining what to do with the seals on the west coast.
I understand there's a lot of political sensitivity in B.C. with the environmental groups on this issue, but I'm wondering what the department can do to assist these conservation groups to enhance their salmon stocks in the various rivers—and to prevent, in other words, the seals' eating up all their work.