Fisheries committee  I would just add—

Fisheries committee  Pardon me?

Fisheries committee  I will start, and then I'll quickly pass it over to Mr. Fanos. If there is a silver lining to the flood events that we saw, it is the fact that much of the infrastructure that was put in place, as I think Mr. Fanos mentioned, was from the fifties or was quite old in nature. Building forward, there is an opportunity to do it in a way that is much greener and more fish friendly.

Fisheries committee  We definitely have international arrangements, particularly with the U.S., given the migratory nature of salmon. There's the Columbia River Treaty process. There's the Pacific Salmon Treaty process more broadly. I am not familiar enough to be able to speak to exactly what's happening regarding the Similkameen and fish migrating there, so I will have to get back to you in writing on that.

Fisheries committee  We had a team, part of an integrated inter-agency approach, as part of that emergency response phase. Mr. Fanos and I are looking more at what we do now to rebuild and for the restoration going forward. For instance, our conservation protection folks were on the ground in boats out in the water supporting other emergency response providers.

Fisheries committee  Yes. As part of any involvement in emergency response activities or incident response, a post review is undertaken. In the case of this work, I want to emphasize again how much of an inter-agency effort it was, not only across federal agencies but also with the province and other local governments.

Fisheries committee  As you know, both my colleague Mr. Fanos and I are from Pacific regions, so we're not very familiar with the details of what's going on in the St. Lawrence. I would just say I know that, in a national context, climate adaptation is something we're considering across all of our program areas.

Fisheries committee  Mr. Fanos, go ahead.

Fisheries committee  I can begin. I would say that in our funding programs that DFO administers, we are looking forward to things that further support and protect fish and fish habitat, and to do this in ways that are forward-thinking in terms of climate adaptation going forward. Regarding the additional costs, as long as it's a solid project and meets the program criteria, I think the type of work you're talking about, which has positive outlooks for salmon, would be well received.

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chair, I would just say that we are looking to take a medium- to long-term view of this. Obviously there was an emergency response phase, but we do need to be planning for future climate events and how we adapt. I'm going to pass this to Mr. Fanos who's much more familiar with the different types of infrastructure and projects that may likely be considered, and our role in it as a key regulator to protect fish and fish habitat.

Fisheries committee  I did mention in my opening remarks just how many of these populations unfortunately are already under consideration for COSEWIC, particularly in the lower southern portion of British Columbia—our sockeye and Chinook. Sockeye largely have been targeted, as have other salmon species, for commercial harvesting, for both the domestic and the broader market.

Fisheries committee  I may need to get back to you in, if that's at all possible, in writing regarding that specifically. I'd like to talk to or discuss this with my fisheries' management colleagues. I would say that salmon over the last several years have become a smaller and smaller share of the fish harvested on the west coast.

Fisheries committee  I will just jump right in, if that's all right, Mr. Chair. Yes, with regard to the closures announced last year, particularly for the commercial harvesters, as well as the ones going forward and anticipated over the longer term, we are currently meeting with commercial harvesters on the west coast—salmon fishermen—and talking to them both about what we think those longer-term closures will need to look like for the next one, two or three cycles of salmon in order to rebuild and restore those populations to a sustainable level, and also how we can help mitigate the real impacts on them.

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chair, I would say that at all levels we are working closely with first nations partners. Our minister, Minister Murray, was sitting I think yesterday on a committee of federal-provincial ministers, as well as leadership from the B.C. first nations. As well, at my level and Brad's, we are also meeting regularly with first nations partners, again, like those you mentioned who are working specifically in the lower Fraser Valley in the watershed level.

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chair, I can begin and then I'll quickly pass it to my colleague, Mr. Fanos. I would say that it's very much aligned with DFO's role in the process and very much what we are looking to support. Where Mr. Fanos leads, we have a regulatory role around protection of fish and fish habitat, but we also are looking to engage increasingly in the local and regional levels of ecosystem and integrated planning processes to support what we call a “fish friendly” approach to infrastructure.