Thank you.
I spent about 25 years working with DFO before I joined the PSF two years ago. My portfolio was within the side of DFO that manages hatcheries and habitat.
I believe strongly that hatcheries are an important and appropriate tool, but they're not a magic silver bullet. You don't run out and build a hatchery every time you have a salmon problem. As Mr. Hill noted, there are concerns and risks and there can be unintended consequences that come from good intentions behind hatcheries.
I believe they are an important part of the picture, but we also need to understand that salmon from B.C. and from our hatcheries go to the North Pacific. There's more salmon out there right now than there has ever been. About 40% of them are enhanced, mostly pink and chum from Russia, Alaska and Japan.
We need to think about that. We need to show leadership in Canada, use hatcheries the right way, have good plans that are conservation-driven and sustainable, and show leadership by starting to have conversations with the rest of the international community around this shared resource in the North Pacific.