Absolutely.
To begin to have a process of management for the entire system would seem to make a lot of sense, to not look at any species in isolation, and to actually have first nations traditional knowledge, science at the table, as part of that discussion. It's being really meaningfully involved with that, not one-off meetings now and again, which really don't get you at the table with the people who are making the decisions. Even after 149 years, we're hopeful that we can discuss a process that works and be part of that. That's huge.
The salmon are so important to us, and we've watched the bass numbers explode over the past five years. It would seem logical that DFO should sit down with the first nations on the river, and the other user groups, and look at the predation, look at what we can do in this system, in this watershed, to improve the habitat for the salmon, improve the returns. We will all benefit if that happens.
There are things that could be done that we're not doing now. There's the offshore commercial fishery that first nations.... We have no contact with NASCO, or any of those discussions that are happening internationally. We probably should be at that table to be part of that larger strategy.
We can't help but think back. My grandfather had a commercial salmon licence for a very short period of time. It was probably two years before the fishery was shut down. In the fifties and sixties, he would have to sneak down to the river to feed his family. This was after your tribe, your people, have utilized that resource, and sustainably, for thousands of years. To be put in that position, and to see all the commercial activity happening on the river and not be part of it has so much to do with where our communities are in regard to development economically. We haven't had that opportunity.
Marshall is only a few years to the table—initial implementation—but there is still so much that needs to be done to get to the point where there's moderate livelihood, so that our requirements are spread over a species, over the entire watershed, and not dependent on a single species.
In our case, the salmon are right by our doorstep. It's available. If people are hungry, they're going to fish it. As long as it isn't a conservation issue, I'm going to support them fishing it.