Madam Chair, if the minister had actually met with the fishing community, one would think it would be first-hand. It is easy to remember the fishing community. Believe me, I know a lot of them in B.C., and they are certainly unforgettable.
A study funded by the minister's own department recently found that the numbers of chinook salmon in the Salish Sea during the summertime are four to six times more abundant for southern resident killer whales than in northern resident whales' feeding grounds. A lack of prey for southern resident killer whales has been used by the minister's predecessor as the reason for shutting down our public fisheries. This has now been clearly debunked. When will the minister's department start making science-based decisions when it comes to keeping our public fishery open?