Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My name is Michael Staley. I am coming to you from the traditional territory of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
I'm a fisheries biologist, trained in population dynamics, and have worked in the field, mainly on Pacific salmon, since the 1970s. In the late 1980s, I started to work in various technical capacities with first nation organizations, mainly on the Fraser River.
I currently work mainly for the Fraser Salmon Management Council and serve as the co-chair of the joint technical committee that reports to the Fraser Salmon Management Board. The Fraser Salmon Management Board was established in 2019 with the signing of the Fraser Salmon Collaborative Management Agreement between the FSMC member nations and the Minister of Fisheries. It's to deal with challenges in the management of Fraser salmon on a migratory route scale.
The Fraser Salmon Management Board has been challenged to fully implement the processes envisioned in the agreement, due in part to a lack of an implementation plan. To date, after our third year, there have been no collaborative decisions made as a result of this collaborative management agreement.
The joint technical committee also tries to meet regularly, although we are challenged with the lack of resources, to prepare briefs and to provide advice to the board in a collaborative way. To date, we've been focused on Chinook salmon fisheries management related to the Fraser stocks that are of conservation concern.
When I started to work with the Fraser first nations about four decades ago, I was one of a handful—I believe there were about three—of western-trained scientists working with B.C. first nations in the field of fisheries. Since then, with the support of federal funding and programs such as the AFS and AAROM, there have been many more well-trained and competent biologists working directly for first nation communities and their aggregate bodies. It is also heartening and appropriate that there are now many and a growing number of the first nations technical staff who are members of first nation communities.
Having lived through the restrained support for science in general and fisheries science in particular that was present in, I guess, the first decade of this century, I'm heartened that there has been increased support for fisheries science in the latter part of the second decade and in this decade. It seems to be returning. Recent federal programs such as the Pacific salmon strategy initiative appear to be used by DFO to help replenish its science capacity.
In recognition of the shared title to lands and resources in B.C. by the Crown and first nations, it is imperative that the science and technical capacity of first nations and their organizations continue to be built. It is only with commensurate support for first nation organizations that first nations can take their rightful role in co-managing the fish and fisheries resource in a collaborative way with DFO.
Thank you.