COVID-19 has compounded many existing socio-economic problems that the recreational angling community is experiencing. I would guess there's also some work coming out of universities and from people who are studying the effect that pinnipeds are having on the predation of juvenile salmon stocks, particularly coho, chinook and others that might not necessarily be a target of pinnipeds. Seemingly, there is an increase in pinniped populations, sometimes a tenfold increase, compared with populations from a few years ago.
Is the department prepared now, based on the findings that universities are making and on reports that this committee has endorsed unanimously, to deal with an increasing pinniped problem and the predation they have on salmon stocks?