Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Morton, for coming to the committee and providing your information and testimony. I have a couple of questions for you.
I want to read a comment that we heard at this committee. As you know, aquaculture is one of the possible causes of the decline of the Fraser River sockeye run last year. It was devastated. At a recent hearing, the committee heard that DFO did not “have information that suggests that the presence of fish farms is causing a decline in the wild salmon populations in British Columbia right now”. Could you comment on that statement, as well as, turning to sea lice specifically, sea lice outbreaks?
I have two other questions.
Apparently, a while back, there was a fish farm on the west coast that was about to be charged for a violation. Do you know anything about that case, and if so, could you comment on it?
And finally, sea lice outbreaks have occurred elsewhere in the world, so I wonder if you could comment on the link between those sea lice outbreaks around the world and infestations as they affect our wild salmon populations or other fish populations.