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Washington State Congressional Delegation 

 September 8, 1992 



United States was to receive a percentage of the Fraser sockeye 

 and pink salmon harvest. Based on run size projections, the 

 United States was expected to catch 7 million sockeye and 7.2 

 million pink salmon. During this period catch levels were 

 developed for each year. These levels could be reduced if the 

 run size were smaller than expected. 



In the second component, the United States agreed to cap the 

 overall harvest at 7 million sockeye and 7.2 million pink salmon 

 with some provision to keep harvest below certain levels if runs 

 came back significantly below predictions. The goal was to 

 provide predictable harvests for the U.S. fleet. The agreement 

 also provided the U.S. fleet with absolute numbers of fish above 

 what it had been catching each year prior to the Treaty. 



From Canada's perspective, the eight-year arrangement provided 

 the incentive to enhance and increase Fraser River nans, since 

 Canada was assured that it would reap the benefits of those 

 efforts. 



During the second four-year period, run sizes increased 

 dramatically. This was due to ideal ocean conditions and 

 increased escapement. The result was that as U.S. fishers 

 harvested their fixed allocation they took a lower percentage of 

 the total harvest than had been projected. U.S. fishers also had 

 shorter seasons, as harvest goals were met quickly with the 

 abundant Fraser runs. 



The Fraser River sockeye harvest expectations have been disrupted 

 by unexpected harvests of Fraser River sockeye in Alaskan 

 fisheries. In some years, Fraser sockeye are caught in Alaskan 

 fisheries off Noyes Island targeting pink salmon. These harvests 

 were not understood at the time the Treaty was signed and were 

 generally dismissed as being small in nimber and related to 

 weather phenomena. Fraser sockeye have appeared in Noyes Island 

 fisheries in large numbers in recent years. The cumulative 

 harvest in the 1989-91 seasons exceeded 450,000 fish. 

 Disagreement between the United States and Canada over how to 

 account for these harvests led to a break-down of the Treaty 

 process this year. As a result, the fishery was not 

 cooperatively managed. 



DEVELOPING A WASHINGTON STRATEGY 

 Washington's primary objective is a conservation-based objective: 



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