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TESTIMONY PRESENTED TO THE 



HOUSE MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES COMMITTEE 



REGARDING 



THE PACIFIC SALMON TREATY 



by 



Charles P. Meacham 



Alaska Department of Fish and Game 



Juneau, Alaska 



August 2, 1994 



Mr. Chairman, my name is Charles P. Meacham. I am Alaska's Commissioner for the Pacific Salmon 

 Commission, and Deputy Commissioner for Fisheries for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. I 

 have been a biologist with the Department for over 20 years. Previously I conmiercial fished 4 years, 

 worked with the fish processing industry 3 years, and was a seafood inspector with the military for 3 

 years. 1 hold a life membership with the American Fisheries Society and am a member of the 

 American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists. I am here today to testify on the Pacific Salmon 

 Treaty, and appreciate the opportunity provided by the committee to do so. 



Over the past decade, the Pacific Salmon Treaty has produced significant accomplishments in the 

 conservation and wise use of our Pacific salmon resources. There is no doubt that, in the absence of a 

 treaty, conservation of salmon stocks would have been significantly hindered and progress toward 

 effective, cooperative management programs would have been substantially less. 



However, progress toward treaty goals has not always been as rapid as we would have liked, and pre- 

 ireaty expectations have not been uniformly met throughout the treaty areas. It is appropriate, 

 therefore, that we carefully review the first decade of treaty implementation with a view toward 

 learning from our experiences and improving our use of the substantial conservation and cooperative 

 management framework provided by this treaty. These committee hearings can significantly 

 contribute to that process. 



ALASKA'S TREATY PERSPECTIVE 



Mr. Chairman, before addressing the specific treaty issues identified by the committee as the focus of 

 these hearings, I would like to briefly speak to Alaska's general treaty perspective. 



The State of Alaska actively supported ratification of the Pacific Salmon Treaty in 1985. Ten years 

 later, in 1994, Alaska continues that support. Through the cooperative efforts of Alaskan and 

 Canadian fishery managers, fostered by the treaty, very significant gains have been made in the 

 conservation and wise management of intermingling salmon resources. These substantial gains 

 justify the wisdom of support for the treaty. 



The treaty principles of conservation, optimum production, and fair sharing are also fundamental to 

 Alaska's fisheries management programs. In 1959, when the State of Alaska assumed responsibility 

 for managing its fisheries, salmon runs had been drastically declining for two decades and were in 

 serious trouble due to federal mismanagement and associated overfishing. With statehood, local 

 fishery managers were encouraged to make tough management decisions to forego immediate 

 harvest and dedicate fish to spawning escapements. Protection of critical salmon habitat was 

 identified then and continues today to be the foundation upon which this valuable resource depends. 



Alaska successfully rebuilt these depressed runs to the healthy levels which exist today. Alaska's 

 salmon management has been described by W.F. Royce, an eminent fishery scientist, as "a model 

 fishery management program." 



