Thank you, Mr. Chair.
In her remarks, the minister referenced the 2010 Fraser River sockeye return and the abundance that happened. I know that the 2009 run was a complete collapse. It was predicted there would be over 10 million returning, and around one million returned, so it was a 90% reduction, essentially a collapse. We have the Cohen inquiry studying that issue, and it will hopefully put some recommendations forward to avoid that in future.
Then we turned around in 2010 and had quite a spectacular return. The department still predicted about 10 million or 11 million would return, and there were almost 30 million. At one time it was said that over 30 million returned, and I think that was then adjusted to under 30 million. Essentially there doesn't seem to have been any idea from the department about what kind of returns would be coming back in those two years alone. We look at 2009, and the prediction was 10 million or 11 million; we look at 2010, and the prediction was roughly 10 million or 11 million in that area. Both are wildly off.
How is it that the department is able to say with any degree of confidence that you're on top of this situation and say that the wild fishery is being managed well, or that you're confident of the returns and the management systems in place?