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Washington State Congressional Delegation 

 September 3, 1992 



It became apparent that with the inclusion of Alaska harvest, 

 each country could mount fisheries capable of frustrating the 

 conservation goals of the other, and that neither country could 

 manage its fisheries without the cooperation of the other. To 

 halt the increase in Canadian interceptions, the United States 

 agreed to a treaty that acknowledged that each country should 

 receive benefits equivalent to production of salmon in its 

 waters. In accepting this principle, the United States 

 acknowledged that its interceptions of Canadian Fraser River 

 stocks were linked to interceptions of U.S. stocks by Canada. 



THE CONSERVATION CRISIS 



In recent years Washington chinook and coho fisheries have become 

 unacceptably restricted because of the conservation needs of the 

 stocks. Under the current Treaty provisions, Canadian WCVI 

 harvest of Washington coho and chinook is unresponsive to the 

 conservation needs of these stocks. 



The listing of Snake River fall chinook stocks as threatened 

 under the Endangered Species Act resulted in drastic reductions 

 of Washington ocean eind in-river harvest of chinook in 1992. 

 Under the Treaty, Canada is entitled to harvest 263,000 chinook 

 annually in north-central B.C. and 360,000 chinook annually off 

 the WCVI, regardless of the conservation status of U.S. stocks. 

 In fact, U.S. stocks account for over 80 percent of the WCVI 

 Chinook harvest. It is estimated by the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service that in 1992 over 70 percent of all the harvest 

 of listed Snake River fall chinook stocks could occur off the 

 WCVI. 



As a result of the listing of Snake River stocks, irrigators in 

 eastern Washington, barge companies and power-dependent 

 industries are spending millions to protect the very stocks that 

 are being harvested in Canada. 



Coho fisheries also are unacceptably constrained. Washington's 

 recreational fishing regulations for 1992 are among the most 

 restrictive in years. For example, Washington's ocean fishery, 

 which needs 500,000 to 600,000 coho for a full summer 

 recreational fishery, had only 160,000 coho available this year. 

 In an unprecedented measure, most of the Strait of Juan de Fuca 

 closed August 23 and the remainder will be closed entirely during 

 September and October to protect the weak Hood Canal coho run. 



