Having read all the above responses, I just have to weigh in. First, this is not a "political" move. Believe me, if the Conservatives were in power, the same closures would exist. It is in response to the realization, in the mid 2000s, that southern resident Killer Whales were starving to death when there was an abundance of salmon, for the simple reason that they only ate chinook! This realization shocked many biologists, as well as fish managers. So, the next question is, how do we provide additional chinook salmon for Orca food? Well, if you look at the problem holistically, there are not any good options, and in fact not many options at all. Chinook are being exploited to their maximum extent, and in fact, probably beyond that. The crucial test is whether two spawning chinook will produce two spawning chinook 4 or 5 or 6 years down the line. This has been a challenge for fish biologists, due to the multi-year spawning capabilities of chinook salmon, but suffice it to say, we have generally been over-harvesting prior to the more scientific approach taken in recent years (decades?). Anyway, to make a long story short, it is not how many Orcas you see on the Swiftsure Bank, it is how many chinook that these restrictions can save for Orca consumption in Juan de Fuca Strait and the Strait of Georgia (or Salish Sea?). Trust me on this next prediction: If the amount of chinook saved by not catching them on Swiftsure Bank or in any of the other areas in this new closure does nothing for the Orcas (it definitely should do something regarding the abundance of chinook off Victoria!) then, there will be additional chinook closures. I can easily see a complete chinook closure on the BC coast (I think that would be excessive) but hey, the Province closed Grizzly Bears for no scientific reason, and I can surely see the Feds closing chinook for this justifiably scientific reason. And, as a final kicker, it will not be a partisan pollical decision, it will be based on established science.