Yes, it's similar in that case.
Smallmouth bass is a native species in parts of Canada, but it's moving and has been moved to places where it is not native. It is a sports fish as well, in its own range, and has sometimes been moved into other systems for that purpose.
The problem can arise, and it has arisen in this one case, when it is introduced into a system where there may be other fisheries, which are equally or even much more prized as a sports or commercial fish, as is the case in New Brunswick. There is a lake there, Miramichi Lake, that is part of the Miramichi system, which is obviously a very large Atlantic salmon system.
Smallmouth bass have been introduced into Miramichi Lake, causing quite a bit of concern. The department has been working with the Province of New Brunswick and with the recreational fishermen's associations in that area to eradicate the smallmouth bass invasion in Miramichi Lake. It's a three-year program, and two years have been completed. This will be the third season right ahead of us. It's using a range of physical removal techniques, so different types of fishing—electro-fishing, using electricity to attract and capture fish—as well as physical barriers, disruption of nests...these are fish that build a nest in the spring, I believe, in shallow water. Knowing that, we can disrupt those nests and interrupt the reproductive cycle.
To date, it looks as if those kinds of efforts have been fairly successful. We've reduced the population to what seems to be a very low level. A lot of fish have been caught, and the catch rate is now very low.
The third year is coming up, and we will see during the year how successful the first two years of physical eradication have been.