Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, commercial fishing is a very important sector of the economy in the area that I represent. For years, I have listened to the pros and cons, the good and the bad aspects of our central fish marketing agency; the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. I have heard the reports of the good old days of commercial fishing when several private buying companies tried and sold our resource to ready markets. I have heard about the good and respectable living that

commercial fishermen made and the money they contributed to Hay River's economy.

However, times have changed and a federally legislated and controlled marketing board moved in and was going to be the answer. Since this has been in place, I continue to hear about things like the lack of adequate prices for our product, the lack of processing and related jobs for northerners, the marketing corporation's resistance to buying less desirable species, which ended up going to waste, and about the lack of efficiency of FFMC in identifying and delivering our world class product to potential markets.

The debates go on. Some like the present system and some don't. What I am concerned about is the resources of the Great Slave Lake. Are we managing it in the best and most sustainable way that we can? Are we receiving the most direct and indirect benefits for our northern residents from this valuable resource? I don't know when this whole issue was looked at last, but I would suggest that the experts on the subject are the commercial fishermen themselves. I would like to see this government undertake a very comprehensive assessment of how this valuable resource is being managed or, should I say, mismanaged. Thank you.