Water Log 19.4

U.S. and Canada Forge Salmon Agreement
Legislative threats to pact deterred

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

In an effort to breathe new life into the Pacific Salmon Treaty, the United States and Canada crafted an abundance-based management agreement in June that is part of a bilateral effort to ensure that management of salmon stocks is based on sound scientific principles and measurements. Larger catches will be allowed when salmon abundance is higher, and catches will be constrained in years when abundance is down. The agreement also funds efforts to conserve salmon habitat.
 The pact faced some opposition by members of Congress who threatened to withhold funding and curtail efforts to implement measures designed to manage certain stocks of salmon designated as endangered. Those threats diminished as the president and other congressional delegations countered that the pact and its funding mechanisms were vital to reconciling longstanding salmon disputes.
 The 1999 agreement's abundance-based regime replaces the fixed-catch ceilings of the original Treaty and its implementing measures.¹ It is hoped that this type of regime will be more responsive to the conservation requirements of salmon stocks than the fixed ceilings. United States Special Negotiator James Pipkin outlined additional provisions of the agreement to Congress, indicating that the agreement is designed to:
 . constitute a long-term solution to the recent conflicts;
 . insulate science from politics
 . integrate the concerns of Washington, Oregon, Alaska and 24 U.S. Treaty Tribes;
 . provide a framework for cooperative cross-border fishery management;
 . harmonize fisheries management with endangered species concerns; and,
 . resolve disputes in the U.S. between Indian and non-Indian fishers²

 In late October, President Clinton noted "[t]he Agreement ends years of contention between the U.S. and Canada regarding expired fishing harvest restrictions and provides for improved fisheries management. I am pleased that legislative riders that would have hindered implementation of this important Agreement have been modified or removed from the bill. In addition, funds have been provided for implementation of the Agreement and for other salmon recovery efforts. These funds will allow us to work cooperatively with our partners - Canada, a number of western States, and Treaty Tribes - to implement the Agreement and to restore Pacific coastal salmon runs."³
 

ENDNOTES

1. D. Waldeck and G. Buck, The Pacific Salmon Treaty: The 1999 Agreement in Historical Perspective, Congressional Research Service Report for Congress (June 18, 1999).
2. Congressional Testimony to the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Conservation,Wildlife and Oceans of the House Committee on Resources, 106th Cong. (October 28, 1999) (statement of James Pipkin, Department of State Special Negotiator).
3. The United States has recently entered into the U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Agreement. Memorandum by President to House of Representatives, M2 PRESSWIRE (October 27, 1999).

University of Mississippi