It's because of the high sea lice infection rate this year, which is such a visible impact. DFO was not out on the water this year because of COVID, but my research team was. I preserved all the fish that I counted sea lice on, so if there's any question about what I recorded, the fish are in the freezer and people can look at them.
We know from published science in DFO by Dr. Sean Godwin that the lice levels on these fish—there was an average of nine lice per juvenile sockeye—reduce survival. That's a major risk for a run of fish that are headed for extinction.