The Salmon Agreement: Another Surf War Avoided

Dr. Wyndylyn von Zharen

But we'll take no care
When the weather proves fair
Nor will we vex now, though it rain;
We’ll banish all sorrow
And sing till tomorrow,
And Angle and Angle again.

Izaak Walton
The Compleat Angler, 1653, from
The Angler’s Song

The Problem
The fishers in western Canada and the U.S. may once again be humming a tune, thanks to a new agreement regarding Pacific salmon. Over the years, stocks of many salmon species on the west coast had declined because of several factors (including urbanization, dam building, habitat destruction, and pollution), with overfishing one of the primary causes. Intense competition for runs of salmon brought several species dangerously close to extinction.

Determination of who has jurisdiction over salmon is difficult to ascertain because of the migratory instinct of this species, a species that rises in the waters of one country and then migrates to the sea and returns to the spawning grounds through the waters of another country. For example, salmon born in Canadian rivers spend much of their lives in U.S. waters where, before they can return to Canadian rivers to spawn, they are caught by U.S. fishers. Likewise, some U.S.-origin salmon, particularly from Alaska, are caught in Canadian waters. When a fish is caught, it is impossible to determine in what rivers those fish were bred. A fish can feed in one nation’s water; breed in another nation’s river; swim in oceans under the jurisdiction of no one nation, and in the process, the fish may be subject to the jurisdiction of not only a nation but states, Amerindian tribes, agencies, and regional management bodies. During this migration period for salmon stocks, both Canadian and U.S. fishers get a crack at each other’s fish (a practice known as interception). As stocks decline, the friction escalates.

The Law
Since a Canadian salmon cannot be distinguished from a U.S. one, the two countries have relied on complex formulas estimating how many salmon had been spawned in each country and establishing catch quotas under the first Pacific Salmon Treaty of 1985 (16 U.S.C. §§ 3631-3644 (1985)). This Treaty focused on harvest allocation and salmon fishing within 200 miles of the coast. The guideline limits expired in 1994 and the governments were unable to reach an agreement. In the spring of 1997, Canadian and United States representatives of the Pacific Salmon Commission, established under the Treaty, walked away from the table without deciding the annual permitted catch. The "trawler brawl" began in earnest. The stakeholders included Canada; the United States; the state governments of Washington, Oregon and Alaska; the provincial government of British Columbia; the coastal Amerindian tribes; and the salmon.

Over-fishing forced a virtual closure of the fishery in British Columbia, and threw thousands of fishers out of work. Tension peaked in the summer of 1997 when embittered Canadian fishers blockaded a few U.S. fishing vessels and then formed a 180-boat flotilla around an Alaskan ferry for three days near Prince Rupert, British Columbia, blocking traffic between British Columbia and Alaska. Trouble erupted again in August 1998, when forty commercial fishing boats from British Columbia clogged a channel between Vancouver Island and Canada to protest salmon fishing restrictions. The blockade was costly. The 1998 Pacific salmon harvest alone was valued between $400 and $700 million.

In 1999, ending a seven-year battle, a unique agreement was signed that amends the Pacific Salmon Treaty and emphasizes conservation and sustainability. The agreement signals a cooperative, conservation-based approach to the management of Pacific salmon fisheries. Unlike the original agreement that provided for a fixed-catch ceiling, this abundance-based management agreement was crafted to allow larger catches when salmon abundance is higher and lower catches in years when abundance is down.

The Treaty includes a complex collection of guidelines covering various rivers and salmon populations over the next dozen years and, for the first time, sets yearly harvest levels based on scientific measurements of the salmon stocks. A conservation trust fund of approximately $140 million will be used for, among other things: salmon habitat restoration and enhancing salmon runs along the west coast of the United States and Canada, for buying fishing licenses, and for improving cooperation between the two countries.

That an agreement was reached is made even more noteworthy when considering the multiple sovereigns and stakeholders involved. The parties include not only Canada and the United States, but also the states of Oregon, Washington, and Alaska (U.S. states have responsibility for the management of fisheries off their coasts) as well as specific U.S. Amerindians (some Amerindian tribes rely on salmon as a foundation of tribal culture and religion in addition to salmons’ role in their diet, economy, and ecology). Historically, quotas are typically set by each state. However, in the case of chinook salmon which spawn in U.S. rivers and are listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1544 (1994)), federal officials, rather than the state of Alaska, are able to require reductions of the catch in Alaskan waters.

Interestingly, the provincial government of British Columbia was not privy to the agreement. The absence of British Columbia is striking considering that the province covers Canada’s entire west coast, from Washington to Alaska. Under Canadian law, the federal government is in charge of the salmon fisheries and has no obligation to include a province in negotiations. British Columbia had a troubled past in terms of reconciling salmon fisheries’ disputes and was perceived by many as creating an impasse. Practically speaking, however, it may be difficult to ensure the success of the Treaty without the cooperation of the British Columbia provincial government.

WWW Pacific Salmon Treaty Resources
For materials related to the June 30, 1999 signing released by the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State, see http://www.state.gov/www/global/oes/oceans/990630_salmon_index.html