Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Deputy Minister, you referenced potential impact on other stocks of concern being the reason for not expanding access to the summer-run Fraser sockeye this year. Early indications were of an incredible run size. We heard of seine test nets coming in with 10,000 fish per seine. The recommendations and indications were that those summer-run fish could have been accessed much earlier to avoid the late-fall run that you seem to reference as being of concern.
After 40 years of dedicated service to Pacific salmon fishery management, Mike Griswold resigned from the Pacific Salmon Commission's Fraser River panel in August because he could no longer support the government's mismanagement of Fraser River sockeye.
Why has Pacific salmon management failed so badly that trusted veteran experts are resigning in protest?