Water Log 18.3

Trading Restraint: Canada and Washington State Cooperate on Salmon Conservation

John A. Duff, J.D., LL.M., M.A.

In a year punctuated with acrimony over the Pacific salmon negotiations between the United States and Canada, the State of Washington and Canada were able to come to an agreement aimed at conserving the most threatened salmon stocks in the region ranging from Puget Sound to the waters of the Fraser River and lower Vancouver Island. The agreement, forged by Canada's Fisheries Minister David Anderson and Washington state Governor Gary Locke, effectively trades a series of restrictive fishing systems so that Washington state fishers do not jeopardize Canadian efforts to conserve coho salmon originating in the Fraser River, while Canada implements measures that will augment Washington state's efforts to conserve Puget Sound Chinook salmon. The pact constitutes one of the few success stories in the ongoing "salmon war" between the United States and Canada.

The age old problem of managing a transboundary resource such as salmon was concisely summed

up years ago by Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney who noted, "the problem with fish, is that they swim." As a result, the resource cannot be effectively managed by one nation when the fish ignore the boundaries and subject themselves to fishers who are not governed by uniform management measures.

Fisheries policymakers on both sides of the border faced the inevitability of salmon fishing restrictions in light of scientific evidence indicating significant declines in particular stocks. Canada's Anderson implemented significant reductions in Canadian coho fisheries while Washington state was considering measures to maintain and restore dwindling Puget Sound chinook stocks. The prospect of Endangered Species Act (ESA) listings of Puget Sound chinook raised the specter of federally imposed fishing and land use restrictions.

The State of Washington's efforts to conserve those stocks could be undermined by Canadian fishers who "intercept" those fish entering Canadian waters. Each country's interceptions of the other's fish are governed by the Pacific Salmon Treaty. However, the treaty process for allocating salmon has been hampered by significant political and scientific disagreements over the past four years. As a result, each side realizes that even the most stringent conservation measures can be sabotaged by an unfriendly or unwilling neighbor.

In assessing the prospects of the Canadian coho restrictions, Anderson searched for some measure of cooperation from the U.S. to show Canadian fishers that the restrictions would not be meaningless. Aware of the incidental benefit that the coho closures would have on Puget Sound chinook and the importance of those stocks to a state facing ESA listings, Anderson initiated talks with Washington state seeking assurances that Washington would curtail coho interceptions.

On May 30, Anderson addressed legislators from Oregon and Washington state, outlined his concerns, and highlighted the need for cooperation between the U.S. and Canada. "Conservation" was his watchword and his plea, as he noted at the outset of his address:

"I have made it clear that the overriding principle that guides every decision I make as the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is conservation. Conservation of fish stocks. Conservation of habitat." Anderson recalled the historic devastation of the collapse of the cod fishery as an historical warning. "We witnessed the collapse of the cod fishery in Atlantic Canada and we know what happens to a struggling fishery when the affected parties don't take the long view. We know what happens when stewardship comes second. Cod were once so bountiful off the shores of Newfoundland that early explorers wrote in their journals how it seemed as though you could walk across the water on their backs." He indicated that the demise of the fishery was a fact that lingered on in Canada's national psyche, noting that, "it is important for Americans to understand that Canadians approach the conservation of endangered Pacific salmon stocks with this experience still fresh in our minds."

Anderson also characterized Canada's actions as a benefit to the United States that ought to be reciprocated in some way: "Canada invests ninety million dollars every year on programs related to the conservation and management of pacific salmon. We reduced overall harvest rates in 1997 so that some 150,000 to 200,000 chinook and 400,000 coho were allowed to pass through B.C. interception fisheries. This provides a direct benefit to Washington, Oregon and Idaho chinook and coho stocks, which are under environmental threat in both fresh and salt water."

Anderson explained the new and increasingly stringent restrictions on coho fishing in Canadian waters including a zero fishing mortality level for coho stocks of the upper Skeena and Thompson Rivers, and selective fisheries in areas where other coho stocks would not be seriously affected as bycatch. He alluded to meetings with Washington State Governor Gary Locke, his frustration with Alaska's fishery representatives and the need for prompt action. "I have met with Governor Locke of Washington on a number of occasions and we agree on the need for cooperation in the conservation and management of Pacific salmon."

Echoing Anderson's concerns, Locke stated, "we're emphasizing conservation." Locke recognized the mutual interest of his state and Canada, along with the mutual threat that faced each side if agreements to help each other could not be reached. "The Canadians face the prospect of extinction of coho salmon. We in the United States and the State of Washington are looking at chinook salmon in Puget Sound as an endangered species. What we're trying to do is help each other."

On June 26, Washington state governor Gary Locke and DFO Minister Anderson announced an agreement effectively amounting to an exchange of promises to reduce catches of each other's threatened salmon stocks. Governor Locke lauded Anderson's efforts stating, "Minister Anderson has shown great courage and leadership in addressing our mutual conservation problems." The terms of the agreement included a reduction by Canadian fishers of fifty percent of U.S.-bound chinook (resulting from Canada's salmon fishing restrictions). In return, Washington state agreed to implement measures that would reduce catches of the Canadian-bound coho by twenty-two percent. Locke explained the need for the agreement and a new way of looking at conservation of transboundary fish stocks. "Business as usual has not worked," noted the governor, adding, "Puget Sound chinook, as well as other Washington salmon stocks, face federal Endangered Species Act listings. This agreement will mean Canadians will restrict their fisheries to allow more wild salmon to return to Washington rivers to spawn. At the same time, we will ask Washington sport and commercial fishers, as well as business people, for additional sacrifices in northern Puget Sound . . . to allow more wild Canadian salmon to return to spawn in their native rivers."

While the reduction trade-offs were highlighted by Locke and Anderson, they met some criticism on both sides of the border. British Columbia's premier Glen Clark, an ardent foe of Canada's federal fisheries policies, labeled the agreement "inequitable" and a "sellout," likening Anderson's action to "treason." In the United States, native tribes decried their lack of input into the agreement between the northwest region and Canada and called for negotiations that would bring together all stakeholders in Pacific salmon management.

However, in light of the other less-than-successful efforts to forge mutually agreed upon fishery conservation measures, the DFO-Washington state agreement may stand as a model for future negotiations.
 

NOTES

1. Anderson Speaks to Pacific Fisheries Legislative Task Force, Canadian Corporate Newswire (May 30, 1998) (transcript of Anderson's comments).

2. Id.

3. Id.

4. Id.

5. Id.

6. Locke, Anderson Reach Short-term Plan to Protect Salmon, CFRA News talk radio web site (visited Oct. 8, 1998) <http: //www.vfra.com/1998/06/26/43674.html>.

7. Agreement Reached on Southern Coho and Chinook, Canadian Corporate Newswire (June 26, 1998).

8. Bob Mottram, Agreement on Salmon is Reached, The News Tribune, B1 (June 27, 1998).

9. Try a Salmon Policy With All the Players, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, E2 (September 20, 1998).
 
 

University of Mississippi