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Washington State Congressional Delegation 

 September 3, 1992 



We are seeking to preserve fish, not fisheries. We are trying to 

 stabilize some drastically disrupted recreational fisheries, but 

 the focus is on conservation. We are also trying to craft a 

 strategy that recognizes the cyclic nature of the fish. As a 

 result, an acceptable coho and chinook regime should be one that 

 responds to the strength of the stocks in any given year. 



We are looking at proposals that would link the level of harvest 

 on the WCVI to the abundance of the fish. When abundance is low, 

 there would be a reduction of harvest on the WCVI. The reduction 

 could be automatic or at the unilateral option of the United 

 States, or a combination. 



But in the spirit of paying for what you get, the question will 

 be what we must pay for this reduction. A big part of deciding 

 how much we want to reduce the WCVI harvests will be determined 

 by how much we are willing to pay. Washington must therefore 

 develop a strategy to achieve its objective. There is no 

 question that there are linkages between WCVI coho and chinook 

 and Washington sockeye interceptions. These linkages are created 

 by the equity principle of the treaty and by Canada specifically. 



RT:DD:wm 



