Madam Chair, we understand there is an interest in a mark-selective fishery. However, my department did not authorize a broad expansion of the mark-selective fishery this year because of several concerns. Among those concerns were the potential risk of increased fishing effort and the increased potential of mortality from hooking and releasing unmarked salmon.
We have to continue to work on consulting with first nations and other interest groups on the mark-selective fisheries and, of course, on hatchery production. We want to make sure that as we go forward with this, we do it in the right way to address the concerns that we are hearing and make sure the stocks are well looked after.