Fisheries committee  We are seeing some investment by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in providing tools and management plans, along with education, to assist local first nations in dealing with responsible harvest close to their communities. We'd like to see that work expand; however, as poin

Fisheries committee  I would suggest the east coast is a little further ahead. I would suggest that on the west coast.... I noted an Atlantic seal action committee, or something like that, which involves stakeholders. We don't have anything like that in British Columbia. Also—and I look forward to ta

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. There are two times in a salmonid's life when they face pinniped predation, both times when they're concentrated. Salmon and steelhead are anadromous species, unlike more pelagic stock. They are forced, by their lifestyle, to migrate through pinch poi

Fisheries committee  There are several ways we can look at it. First off, the complete closure of the hunting of seals in the 1970s is what initially created the problem, but we also have other activities taking place. I think, perhaps, one of the most significant ones that we notice would be the

Fisheries committee  Thank you, MP Arnold. I'm happy to address that question. I can do it very quickly. Just like people, just like southern resident killer whales and just like other salmon, it's pretty apparent based on my experience and having depredation events occur when I spend my time on the

Fisheries committee  I don't know if there's evidence of targeting as much as there's evidence of being selective about what's consumed. Seals and sea lions tend to rip the bellies out of fish and like to consume the roe. We do see species-specific targeting. My experience is in Cowichan Bay. It oc

Fisheries committee  Thank you very much, MP Arnold. It was most interesting to listen to the testimony this morning and at the same time distressing to see situations unfolding in British Columbia that are absolutely similar to those that have been unfolding and well documented on the east coast fo

Fisheries committee  I agree exactly with the sentiments that Mr. Brown and Mr. Bos provided. Through the Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia, we have had more consultation on the PSSI than the SFAB has, but the challenge we have is that it's still extremely high level. We're not getting dow

Fisheries committee  Thank you very much for that question, Ms. Barron. It's very current. The Cowichan River could be used as an example and a template for salmon recovery in British Columbia, in that it's an area in which several levels of government—municipal, provincial and federal—along with f

Fisheries committee  Thank you very much for that question. It's our strong belief that, due to the economic power of our fishery and its incredibly positive impacts—particularly in smaller coastal communities—current accurate, useable, cultural impact and social impact statements should be part of

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Arnold. My response would be similar to Mr. Mallet's, in that it really is dependent upon species and how current the issue is that we're dealing with. DFO does have the ability to work collaboratively with us in terms of data collection in particular, as we talk

Fisheries committee  We're currently trying to do that on our visit to Ottawa on this particular trip, including the specific example that I raised with you. The answer is, yes, we are able to communicate with DFO in terms of what we feel are priorities for research, and the answer is that not parti

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the opportunity to appear before this committee. Previously, Owen and I attempted to share our allotted time, but today we’ve opted to leave the opening statement to one of us—me, in this case. However, we are both prepared to answer questions, based on our differe

Fisheries committee  There's a simple and quick answer to your second question, Gord, and that is, what the government needs to do is implement the SFAB proposals immediately. Those SFAB proposals are put in place to provide opportunity for small coastal communities to get involved and get back to wo

Fisheries committee  If there's a minute, I'll jump in there, Blaine. I would suggest that the future would be quite bleak. If we are to maintain the current suite of non-retention regulations in B.C., as I think I pointed out in my talk, this is about survival. It's not about thriving; it's about s