Fisheries committee  We appeared in front of the committee last year to talk about this issue, and subsequent to that appearance the department launched a review of what happened in 2005. That led to a multi-agency assessment--that's work by the federal and provincial governments. We consulted with the various stakeholders--the communities and the various interests that were concerned about the gravel removal.

Fisheries committee  Of course.

Fisheries committee  In 2006, the economic opportunity first nations fishery harvested about 10% of the total commercial catch in 2006, and that's with a run size of nine million. The food, social, and ceremonial ratio was about 15%. The food, social, and ceremonial allocation is of a higher priority than the commercial.

Fisheries committee  No, there's not. We have a few groups that are using drift nets. But I want to explain something. Drift-net fishing is what gillnetters do in the Fraser River. A gillnet boat has a net attached to it and it drifts down the river. That's called drift-net fishing. That's exactly what first nations do in a few locations.

Fisheries committee  You were referring to the possibility of a judicial inquiry being called. It's obviously not in place, but assuming that it will be put in place, the department and the Pacific region will have to respond as best we are able to. We anticipate that when an inquiry is called we would be required to provide information to that inquiry.

Fisheries committee  I understand. I think we will be challenged; there's no doubt about it. I think we will be challenged to be able to support the inquiry and at the same time continue our regular business, get ready for 2007. I think that's the point you're raising. We are going to have to organize ourselves to be able to meet the requirements of the ongoing work that's going to be necessary, plus fulfilling any obligation we'll have to the inquiry itself.

Fisheries committee  These are the recommendations of the standing committee?

Fisheries committee  The standing committee made a number of recommendations in several different areas--catch monitoring, enforcement, and improved stock assessment. In the case of catch monitoring, we did augment the number of fishery officers. The minister made a decision at the beginning of the year to increase the number of fishery officers.

Fisheries committee  We have. We've put in what we call a “management adjustment”. It takes into consideration the temperature conditions on the Fraser River. Based on the temperature conditions, we can hypothesize or speculate on what proportion of the fish that move into the Fraser River will probably die as a consequence of adverse conditions related to high temperatures.

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will be brief. It's a short deck called “Update on the Fraser River Sockeye Fishery for 2006”. I'm on page 2. The committee is aware that in designing our fishing plan we work with various stakeholders and interests, the fishing plan sets objectives, and so forth.

Fisheries committee  The camera itself is several thousand dollars, and as I indicated, for some vessels that cost was bearable in terms of a one-time purchase. For others, individuals have come together and bought a camera, and then distributed it among several vessels. Others have rented to try to keep those costs down.

Fisheries committee  Well, again, so far in the in-season process, which has both small boats and big boats, a cross-section of commercial interests, insider trading has not come forward as a prominent issue. In fact, I'm not aware of it as a prominent issue. On the issue of halibut, the value of halibut actually went up this year.

Fisheries committee  Just to clarify, the recreational fishery is 12% of the halibut harvest, and there are some concerns that they may be approaching that level. Although there is doubt about that, there are concerns. Their concern is that regardless of whether they're at that level or not, they want to have the potential to go past that level if their fishery increases.

Fisheries committee  I can answer it quickly. I can say that I'm really not the right person to address the central and Arctic. That's not my region. I think the report and planning committee needs to be addressed. If it's fisheries management, it needs to be addressed by Mr. Bevan. I think that would be my response.

Fisheries committee  That was a concern by the fishermen, so they put in stipulations around the amount that could be transferred between fleets. So there are constraints on how much fish can be transferred from one fleet to the other to avoid a concentration of allocation among certain fleets, for example.