Thank you for the question.
Consider that there were no salmon rivers directly adjacent to the fish farms in Discovery Islands. The whole consultation process was about the impacts through migratory salmon. When that is the basis and when you consider the Supreme Court ruling of the Haida and the Taku Tlingit, even the potential to infringe on aboriginal rights triggers the duty to consult.
When we know and DFO acknowledges that Fraser River salmon—all stocks, not just sockeye—migrate through the Discovery Islands, and if we are in all good conscience to live up to the Supreme Court law and the constitution of this country, the minister must understand that the infringement of aboriginal rights from fish farm operations extends far beyond the site-specific. It does trigger the duty to consult, which I have never seen DFO even want to contemplate.
I believe it's because the vast majority of British Columbia first nations—we have identified 102—support the transition of fish farms out of the ocean. The DFO minister and the Canadian government must understand that this infringement of rights through the operation of open-net cage fish farms extends across British Columbia.