81 



Washington State Congressional Delegation 

 September 3, 1992 



While Washington fisheries face these constraints, Canada 

 continues to harvest 1.3 million coho annually off the WCVI, 

 regardless of conservation needs. Over 60 percent of the coho 

 harvested in WCVI fisheries are of U.S. origin. In the case of 

 the depressed Hood Canal coho, which are being protected by the 

 closure of Washington fisheries, over 52 percent of the entire 

 run is harvested in Canada. 



Chinook 



The need to conserve chinook stocks was in 1985 one of the 

 primary forces behind the Pacific Salmon Treaty. In an effort to 

 get U.S. negotiators to the bargaining table, Canada 

 deliberately encouraged fishing effort on U.S. origin Chinook, 

 particularly off the WCVI. The message was clear: Canada viewed 

 its harvest of Washington Chinook stocks as a balance to Alaskan 

 interceptions of the whole range of Canadian stocks and to 

 Washington interceptions of Fraser River sockeye and pink stocks. 



The resulting high harvest in Alaska and Canada, combined with 

 lower survival generally, contributed to severe Chinook declines. 

 A primary aim of the Treaty was to rebuild these natural Chinook 

 runs. The Treaty included harvest ceilings on Chinook fisheries 

 in southeast Alaska, northern British Columbia and off the WCVI. 

 These ceilings were designed to reduce harvest rates to allow 

 rebuilding of key natural runs by 1998. 



When the Chinook ceilings were established in 1985, Canada did 

 not have a significant recreational fishery off the WCVI. With 

 Canadian assurances that this fishery was unlikely to grow, U.S. 

 negotiators agreed not to put ceilings on Canada's recreational 

 harvest. Since 1935, however, this fishery has grown 

 dramatically. The WCVI sport harvest may exceed 100,000 

 additional chinook annually. Ironically, the majority of 

 recreational fishers in British Columbia are likely from the 

 United States. These recreationalists are flocking to Canada to 

 catc.^ the same fish they cannot catch in Washington because the 

 conservation constraints imposed in Washington have no effect on 

 the fishery in British Columbia. 



Today some chinook stocks have rebuilt to target levels, while 



others are not on schedule for rebuilding by 1998. Some stocks 



have declined to below pre-Treaty levels. Most dramatically, 



Snake River fall chinook have been listed under the Endangered 



