Our view is that it had no effect. I knew a lot of people who took those jobs. We were all graduating about that time. One of the few groups that were hiring at the time was DFO, and so a lot of my friends and different people I know took those jobs. The approach didn't work. It did not enhance fisheries, in our view. That is not to say that regulation is not important. There need to be rules; there needs to be enforcement. But copping up and hitting the landscape with staff like that does not engage humans. It alienates people. It doesn't work. It alienates rural communities, and it's unfortunate because we could do it differently. There is a different way to engage those communities and get better results, not just for recreational fishing, but for water quality and flood mitigation as well.
On May 5th, 2015. See this statement in context.