Madam Speaker, I would like to preface my remarks by bringing forth a couple of the hon. member's concerns. My colleague did indeed put his nets into the water. Quite bluntly, the reason he put his nets into the water was to show that the law was not being enforced equally between aboriginals and non-aboriginals. I cannot comment on a situation that is going to be before the courts but the motivation was
frustration. The facts are that the laws are not and were not being applied equally to both aboriginals and non-aboriginals.
I just draw from a safety point of view the poaching I mentioned earlier along the Fraser River where aboriginal people were extending their nets right across the river and taking as much as they could possibly take. This was done in front of DFO officers. The DFO officers would not go in there because they were afraid of being shot and killed. I do not blame them but that is the reality under which we live.
I would like to also ask if the taxes that are going to be applied to catchment also apply to aboriginal and non-aboriginal commercial fishermen. Do they also apply to commercial fishermen under the AFS? At some time in the future I would like to know the answer to that.
The hon. member asked me about the chinook and coho fisheries. We know the numbers of both are declining quite dramatically and I would put the ball back in his court. Our first concern is to ensure we have adequate chinook and coho coming back into our waters as spawners. That is not happening right now. If we enable the hatcheries to occur, such as the one I mentioned which can be sustainable, then in time when we get a sufficient number of chinook and coho back, yes we could have a commercial fishery in that.
The overriding concern we must have is to ensure that our chinook and coho and every other species are going to have sufficient sustainable numbers in our waters so that this resource can be increased over time. When it gets to a level that is considered to be sustainable, I am sure the ministry will have enough data to show how many fish can be taken off in a sustainable fashion in a commercial way.
The aquaculture suggestions I mentioned to the hon. member are suggestions I have not seen put forth in any area by the ministry. If it is there, I would certainly like to be made aware of it. To my knowledge and from what I have seen, there is no record of the other constructive ideas I have put forth to the hon. member with respect to maximizing our aquaculture capabilities within Canada.
As I said before, I have no doubt that Canada can be a world leader in aquaculture because we have superb research taking place now. There is no reason that not only can we do this domestically but there are also enormous international trade possibilities in aquaculture existing around the world. In the future with our resources being decimated, we are going to need new sources of protein to feed the burgeoning populations in this world. Aquaculture could provide a large part of that protein.
There are great opportunities for Canada. I am sure the hon. member will pass that information back to the minister so he can act on it forthwith.