I am not a scientist; I will tell you that now. I rely on my colleagues, who are all scientists, to give us the data and do the analysis for us.
I sit on the Yukon River panel, so we hear a lot of testimonials. We hear a lot of reports on ichthyophonus, which seems to be the new trending illness that the salmon contract on the way. It appears that it comes from the warming temperatures and the warming waters. It means they don't make it to the spawning grounds. It's not harmful to humans; the salmon are still edible.
We don't know a whole lot about this. What I can say is that scientific assessments are being done. Last year was huge for us in the Yukon because the United States decided they were going to take some 500 chinook out of the main stem tributary to do studies on ichthyophonus. The results of the studies will not bring the salmon back.
We cannot continue to do scientific analysis on salmon. I think this seven-year moratorium will allow us a huge window of opportunity to look at the trends we are observing, whether in illnesses, overharvesting or warming temperatures. We have data loggers all along the river. We have telemetry sites along the river. We have sonar along the river. That still does not give us the answers.
The question you asked is a question that I cannot answer because there are many factors implicated in the demise of the salmon.