Fisheries committee  For sure. Would you like me to describe some of them?

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Johns. We do recognize the court-defined right of those five nations. We do.

Fisheries committee  We are still reviewing the court decision, of course, as you know, and we are also undergoing negotiations with the five nations from a reconciliation perspective. They do have a fishery management plan in place now for their rights-based fishery.

Fisheries committee  The rights priority would follow conservation. There's FSC that needs to be taken into account along with treaty rights, but, yes, those are the priorities we are managing.

Fisheries committee  Yes. My comment was really intended to say that because salmon swim together, the weak ones and the strong ones, we need to find ways to selectively harvest to avoid harm to those particular stocks of concern. Unfortunately, they all look alike when they're swimming together. Some are of concern and some are stronger.

Fisheries committee  There are a number of techniques you can use to encourage selective harvesting. It's not just equipment. Area and time can allow for selective harvest as well, but also gear types, locations, those types of things. There are a number of different techniques to encourage the selective harvest of the stocks that can withstand the pressure of harvest.

Fisheries committee  I'll ask Dr. Parsons to start and then we can go from there. Thanks.

Fisheries committee  In my opening remarks I talked about the significant concerns we have around salmon and their future state. Part of the minister's commitment to deliver a Pacific salmon strategy really speaks to the need for a change in how we approach salmon management and a number of different—

Fisheries committee  We are seeing very significant declines in salmon and have significant concerns about that.

Fisheries committee  Well, the salmon—

Fisheries committee  I would recommend four key strategies. The first would be to focus investments in habitat, conservation and restoration-type activities. I would recommend strategic enhancement to support stocks of concern, and where possible, to support harvest where appropriate. There's a need for some significant harvest sector transformations to focus on selective fishing to avoid stocks of concern.

Fisheries committee  My second recommendation was around salmon enhancement. There are a couple of areas. For example, we don't have any major hatchery facilities above the Big Bar slide along the Fraser River. That's a gap that has been in place forever, made worse by the slide and the pressure on those stocks.

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Johns. We've said to each of the witnesses that we're asking them to speak to their area of expertise, and they are absolutely free to do so within that area of expertise. Thank you.

Fisheries committee  With regard to information-sharing within the department, we certainly would share information of that nature for context and general awareness. With regard to the consultation process that went on with first nations, I wasn't in the room with them, so I can't speak specifically to that.

Fisheries committee  I can confirm, Mr. Johns, that the issue was definitely raised to the office. That's as far as I could say.