Mr. Chair, I really appreciate the member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country's deep interest in the health and abundance of the Salish Sea, the plight of wild Pacific salmon and the southern resident killer whales, which are, of course, an iconic part of our ecosystem.
We have certainly taken significant steps to address threats to the population through the ocean protection plan and the whales initiative, as the member spoke about. For the fourth year in a row, our government has implemented enhanced measures to stop the decline of the species. There has been a great deal of work done with indigenous groups and stakeholders to inform the development and enhancement of protection measures.
I mean, we would love to see the numbers of these creatures grow, but they are not. The numbers of the southern resident killer whale are slightly down. To build on past efforts, I had an unfortunate opportunity, in a way, as there were new fishery closures for the recreational fishery that needed to be put into place to protect key foraging areas of the southern resident killer whales. With continued measures under the ocean protection plan, I am optimistic that we can stop the decline and start to see a return of higher numbers of these whales.