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50-50 Tribal/non-Tribal shanng may exacerbate old animosities and destroy the 

 stability of this long standing allocation settlement. 



Equal sharing between Tribal and non-Tribal groups was a fundamental part of the 

 political understanding which led to the adoption of the Pacific Salmon Treaty in 

 1985. At that time, the legal and political warfare which had followed the 1974 

 Boldt decision was still recent history. Washington Initiative 456 (RCW 75.56), 

 which unsuccessfully attempted to reverse Boldt. had been passed by the voters of 

 our state only the previous year, in 1984. Settlement of these intense Tnbal - non- 

 Tribal issues was critical to adoption of the Treaty 



At the time of adoption, the Tribes were concerned that the U.S.- Canadian Treaty 

 relationship under the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission had been 

 previously used to prejudice the Tribal 50% fishing right As a guarantee against a 

 recurrence of these events, the Tribes insisted on and were provided with a 

 commissioner on the U.S. Section of the Pacific Sahnon Commission. This 

 appointment, along with the veto resulting from the requirement of unanimity on the 

 Commission, and the assurance that the Commission would be responsible for future 

 negotiations with Canada, provided the Tribes with security against such a use of 

 the Treaty process in the future. 



In 1985, the Tribes also asserted that their 50% share of the chinook salmon harvest 

 included the Washington sabnon caught in the waters of Alaska. A specific part of 

 the Pacific Sabnon Treaty settlement was a Tribal stay agreed to in the so-called "all 

 citizens case" in which this issue was before the courts This stay was an implicit 

 agreement that the Tribal share would be limited to 50% of the chinook caught in 

 Washington. While the lack of a similar stay with respect to Fraser River sockeye 

 which are mcreasingly caught in Alaskan waters has plagued the Treaty negotiating 

 process m recent years, the proposed trade gpes far beyond merely re-establishing 

 Tribal - non-Tribal equivalence based on this Alaskan harvest. 



Puget Sound Non-Tribal commercial fishers were concerned about the repeal of the 

 Fraser River Convention of 1930 and about the loss of the highly successful 

 International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission. The new Treaty replaced the 

 Convention and rolled the Fraser River fisheries into the current single agreement 

 with the Canadians. Along with stability in the Tribal - non-Tribal relationship, 

 Non-Tribal commercial fishers were provided with an uidustry member to the new 

 Fraser River Panel which would manage the U.S. in-season Fraser River fishenes. 



Pg3 



