Fisheries committee  Thank you.

Fisheries committee  There are some in Canada, some in the United States and many in Asia. I understand that Japan and Korea have a number, and so does Russia.

Fisheries committee  Well, that's an excellent point, and I think that has to be addressed. I sent you a copy of that seven-year agreement, and I know that at one point someone mentioned that it needed to be translated into French. I hope that has been done. There are sections in that agreement that speak specifically to the rebuilding plan.

Fisheries committee  Well, yes, I have a few. I worked on the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Final Agreement. A number of cases about land use have gone to the courts, but the Supreme Court has confirmed that one of the major intents of the Yukon land claim is providing Yukon first nations people with meaningful participation in the management of public resources.

Fisheries committee  I think we can. I'm optimistic about that. Like Pauline, I'm on the Yukon River Panel, and I can tell you that the Alaska members of the panel and the Canadian members are really speaking with a single voice when it comes to issues with hatcheries, climate change and the pollock fisheries.

Fisheries committee  I can. Thanks for that. The hatcheries that are pouring billions of fish into the north Pacific are commercial hatcheries. Most of the salmon you buy in the grocery store these days is coming from fish that returned to those hatcheries. Pink salmon are especially prolific. They grow very fast, so they're a favourite.

Fisheries committee  Absolutely, there is. I'm not aware of really successful chinook salmon hatchery programs. Maybe I'm simply unaware. The Whitehorse dam was built 75 years ago. It's up for relicensing. There's a similar dam on the Mayo River, which is an important chinook spawning river. The Mayo dam has absolutely extirpated all of the salmon that used to spawn above it, which I understand was quite a few, according to the Na-Cho Nyak Dun.

Fisheries committee  Yes, and on that, the Yukon Salmon Sub-Committee hired expert assistance to help us. There's a certain design of turbine that has been shown to be less damaging for salmon. I think those could be replaced. I think the spillway that exists right now just goes straight down, and I understand that you can build a graduated spillway that makes it easier for the fry to out-migrate.

Fisheries committee  I'm not opposed to hatcheries. As I said, I think hatcheries may have a role to play. However, the Yukon River Salmon Agreement actually contains very clear direction to concentrate on the wild stocks. Artificial propagation is not an excuse for poor management. From what I have observed, I'm not aware that hatcheries are particularly successful at producing large chinook salmon.

Fisheries committee  I don't necessarily want to place blame. The Yukon Placer Mining Act came into effect in 1906. It has essentially been unchanged since that time. Under the Yukon free entry system, miners can stake claims virtually anywhere—not on first nation land, but virtually anywhere else.

Fisheries committee  I'm sorry.

Fisheries committee  Well, yes, we can't do it alone. I think everybody has to work together. I think the Alaskans have certainly not been innocent, but I think they read the writing on the wall like all of us. They realize that we have to work together now, on both sides of the border, to save the salmon.

Fisheries committee  There's no doubt that gillnets select for the larger fish. The effect of gillnetting on the river—and I should say that it is the most common way of fishing, on both sides of the border—has been to selectively weed out the larger fish, so that is a factor. I don't imagine I'll ever return to fishing.

Fisheries committee  No, there isn't, but one is going to be developed. The Yukon River Salmon Agreement, signed back in 2001, requires the parties to develop a rebuilding plan when stocks aren't meeting their escapement targets. That's happening now. The seven-year agreement that's being referenced requires the parties to develop a chinook rebuilding plan.

Fisheries committee  Not all of them are clipped, but a high percentage are. The concept is that you assume the clipped fish reflect the same characteristics as other hatchery fish, but not all of them are clipped. If I could, I would like to take the opportunity to say something about climate change and efforts to conserve lands in the Yukon.