During the meeting process, we had invited first nations and aboriginal groups to come and present, either directly in person or through written briefs sent to the committee. We had a very strong and very positive response in virtually all cases.
I think the committee observed that there's quite a variety among them, ranging from some really conservation-minded groups to ones that are a little more focused on the harvest of the salmon. To put it cautiously, in some cases the best practices weren't in place, while in other cases they were excellent.
We recognize the rights of the first nations groups for food, social, and ceremonial fishing, but we still felt we should put forward some ideas that DFO could put on the table for discussion points when food fishery plans were established.
One idea involves tending nets regularly. If nets are put out and not addressed every day, let's say, or every week, then the nets fill up and sink, and the salmon are lost. They're not captured and used as a food fishery, but they're still killed.
The positioning of the nets away from the river systems would more likely intercept migrating fish rather than local fish in the area. We spoke to that possibility.
There's also the idea of a takeout period. If there's a very strong run of fish going on or there are very large fish coming through, there would be a period when it would be critical to remove the nets so that the run could go through.
Another idea is using fish traps rather than fishnets. If there's an opportunity to successfully deploy live fish traps, then fish could be taken that would be of a size that would have a smaller impact on conservation. It would also avoid unnecessary mortality.
Those are some of the ideas.