I can only in this case quote what we were told at the last meeting of the main board of the SFAB, that as long as harvesting by first nations is accepted in those areas, then those areas cannot be defined as marine protected areas. It's a tricky one, because there are some kinds of fishing that take place in RCAs. For example, traps that land on the bottom don't bother rockfish. The commercial prawn fishery was able to show that it doesn't catch any rockfish in its prawn traps, and so it can actually fish in those areas, as can a recreational harvester, but you can't go in there with a hook and line and fish, because you can't fish for salmon in a rockfish conservation area and not catch rockfish. I have great hope for the RCA one. I'm reasonably confident that appropriate consultation with first nations will lead first nations to agree to help ensure that those areas have long-term protection. It's in their interests to do so, and I think that can happen.
On May 16th, 2017. See this statement in context.