Fisheries committee  Thank you. I think I'll start, based on my understanding, and then I'm going to ask Mr. Wild to fill in some of the gaps. First of all, as I've indicated, there is the broad framework, which you've referred to, that provides general guidance in terms of provisions for gravel removal on the Fraser River.

Fisheries committee  Okay. I just want to speak to that. The reality is that on the ground, at the site, there are conditions under which you can access that gravel site in a safe way, and there are conditions under which you can't. We have to actually make an on-site decision at the time. We have to actually evaluate the flow of the river at that time relative to the conditions that would safely permit access to that gravel location.

Fisheries committee  You may not be surprised that I have a different perspective from the one you've just provided. It is our view that we really require a comprehensive gravel removal plan for the Fraser River. Removing gravel is controversial, as I've indicated. There are various perspectives on that from various individuals and organizations.

Fisheries committee  If I could just add one final remark, from my perspective the question of why is a good one. It is something we are prepared to look into and are looking into. From our perspective--and even from that of your previous witness last week--there's little dispute about the removal of gravel from that site.

Fisheries committee  In this particular case, the overall gravel plan was the five-year plan I referred to earlier, which was established in 2004. There was extensive consultation on the development of that plan, involving the province and the Fraser River Basin Council, which is a consortium of a broad array of interests, obviously including ourselves, and so forth.

Fisheries committee  I am going to ask that area director Jim Wild respond to that.

Fisheries committee  The issue is that there's a timing window for when the gravel operations can be removed. Typically we want the operations to be discontinued around the middle of March, the reason being that's when young pink fry are emerging from the gravel and migrating downstream. So there's a very narrow window in which the gravel can actually be removed.

Fisheries committee  If I understand correctly, there was a concern that the community interests who had observed this issue and had brought it to the attention of the department might actually be charged because they had disturbed the gravel?

Fisheries committee  Our view is that the community that brought this issue to our attention was concerned about the environment—as we are—and that their actions were helpful in facilitating our making a decision, which we think was the right decision. I'm not aware that we would direct any actions of the kind suggested here toward a group that was actually trying to assist, or ensure in this particular case, the safe removal of the gravel.

Fisheries committee  Both. I certainly was informed by other sources that there was a problem, and the area director, I believe, was informed by other sources. We had our own sources as well, because we had staff on site. So I think it was a combination of inputs. Personally, I was first apprised of this by other sources.

Fisheries committee  From what we can gather, the reduced flow through the causeway led to dewatering of some of the gravel reaches below the causeway, and that dewatering exposed pink salmon redds. These are locations where pink salmon lay eggs, and those eggs may have suffered mortalities associated with that dewatering.

Fisheries committee  Yes. The initial design of the causeway was to put a bridge in place, but at the time the causeway was being put in, the river flow was actually quite high, and it was judged that it would be unsafe to put that bridge in, that the foundation wouldn't support a span. Because of a terrible accident, a tragedy, in fact, that had occurred previously in which we lost a life as a result of a gravel operation, it was determined that it was unsafe to construct a bridge.

Fisheries committee  Thank you very much. We appreciate the opportunity to be here to speak to this issue. We have prepared a short deck. I'd like to provide that presentation and intend to do so in the time I've been allowed. I'm going to start on slide 2. I just want to quickly review the purpose.