Thank you, Minister. I hope the scientists who submitted this report to you will receive an official response to the report soon.
The other question, which I recently also brought up in my letter to you, is around the Prime Minister's mandate to transition open-net pen fish farms out of Pacific waters by the end of 2025. Work is apparently under way on transition planning, which is much overdue, and at the same time, DFO officials continue to receive, consider and approve applications for production increases at existing farms.
In Clayoquot Sound, for example, DFO has granted three farm production increases of 25% to 50%. A further seven applications from the same company are under review by DFO, involving increases in tenure size, investment in new pens, and production increases.
Minister, my question for you is this: Can you tell the committee how you plan to meet the 2025 deadline to remove these open-net fish farms from Pacific waters as well as have a real jobs plan for all those who are impacted?