43 



developing a simplistic "yardstick" using coitimercial fish prices 

 to value benefits, whereas the United States takes the view that 

 addressing benefits must encompass a much broader range of 

 societal impacts, including recreational and other uses of 

 salmon. In addition, the United States believes that any 

 obligation by either party to redress any equity imbalance should 

 be mitigated by circumstances related to conservation, natural 

 phenomena, or certain unilateral actions of the other party. 



Conservation 



Pacific Northwest salmon conservation issues also present 

 exceptional challenges. On April 8, 1994, the Pacific Fishery 

 Management Council took a number of actions to conserve U.S. 

 Chinook and coho salmon stocks. The Council recommended 

 elimination of all non- Indian ocean salmon fishing off Washington 

 and northern Oregon and no fishing for coho salmon anywhere by 

 any fishery in the ocean off Washington, Oregon, and California 

 in 1994. These actions were necessitated by a combination of 

 factors -- drought, the effects of El Nino, and long-term salmon 

 habitat degradation -- resulting in managers' predictions of very 

 poor salmon returns to the Pacific Northwest . The chinook and 

 coho stocks in question are particularly affected by Canadian 

 fisheries off Vancouver Island in southern British Columbia -- 

 Canadian fisheries which were the subject of catch limits under 

 expired PSC fishing regimes. The United States has emphasized 

 the need for Canada to reduce its harvest rate on these depleted 



