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1994 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program |
| Council document 94-55 | |
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8.5 Pursue Other Harvest Measures
8.5A Review Sport Fishing Regulations
State Fishery Agencies
8.5A.1 Re-examine sport fishing regulations, including trout fishing regulations, in weak stock areas and adopt catch-and-release regulations, closures or other measures as needed to protect depressed populations. Periodically review changes in sport fishing regulations with the Council.
8.5B Account for Incidental Harvest of Salmon
Pacific Fishery Management Council and North Pacific Fishery Management Council
8.5B.1 Report to the Northwest Power Planning Council on the incidental harvest of Columbia River salmon in other fisheries under their respective jurisdictions. Review with the Power Council the magnitude of the interceptions and potential for limiting or reducing such interceptions, including the use of guidelines for incidental harvest in those fisheries. Incidental catches should be estimated and the number of salmon caught applied toward the appropriate salmon harvest quota.
8.5B.2 Report on the number and weight by species of catches that are returned to the water or otherwise disposed of in commercial fisheries. As part of the report, make proposals to reduce such waste where it is having adverse effects on Columbia River populations of salmon and steelhead.
8.5C Law Enforcement and Public Education on Impacts of Illegal or Wasteful Fisheries
Tribal, State and Federal Government Agencies, Including the Departments of State and Commerce, as well as Other Public and Private Parties
8.5C.1 Use all available authorities to put a rapid end to all high seas drift-net fisheries. The Council commends Congress for its prompt ratification of the United Nations resolution calling for an immediate, general abandonment of drift netting.
Bonneville and Appropriate Tribal, State and Federal Enforcement Agencies
8.5C.2 Develop and implement an expanded enforcement program to provide additional protection to Columbia River salmon and steelhead with an emphasis on weak stocks throughout their life cycle. The program should include an educational component for the public. Fund the needed program, and review accomplishments and scope of the program annually with the Council.
8.5D Inclusion of Idaho and Indian Tribes in Columbia River Compact
States and Congress
8.5D.1 Enact legislation to include Idaho and appropriate Columbia River Basin tribes, if they deem their membership appropriate, in the Columbia River Compact.
8.5E Unified Reporting of Harvest Data
Reporting of commercial and sport salmon harvest, as well as dam passage information and spawning surveys, is scattered among a variety of jurisdictions. This information is needed by the Council, all of the involved agencies and tribes, and the public, all of whom must expend substantial effort to gather the information each year.
Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission
8.5E.1 Prepare and circulate a unified report by June 1 of each year on harvest and escapement of various salmon and steelhead stocks in the Columbia Basin. Utilize the Coordinated Information System in preparing the report.
National Marine Fisheries Service
8.5E.2 Fund the development, printing and distribution of the Unified Harvest Report.
8.5F U.S. and Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty
While the absolute number of Snake River fall chinook taken by Canadian ocean fisheries is small because the population is depressed, it represents a large proportion of the population and the number of Snake River fall chinook harvested. About 40 percent of the ocean harvest of Snake River fall chinook is estimated to be taken in Canadian fisheries. The fisheries also catch large numbers of Washington Coastal and Puget Sound coho that are from stocks that are generally depressed.
The treaty placed a ceiling on relevant Alaskan and Canadian chinook fisheries. That particular portion of the treaty expired in 1992, and chinook provisions to the Treaty have been negotiated on an annual basis ever since. The negotiations have been proceeding on two tracks. One track deals with management and conservation issues (e.g., chinook harvest ceiling). The second track concerns the equity issue (balancing salmon interceptions so that the country of origin receives the benefits from rebuilding and enhancement efforts) .
The Canadian government has made it clear from the very beginning that progress on the management and conservation issues cannot occur without progress on the equity issue. They believe they are entitled by the treaty to reap the benefits of their fisheries restoration efforts in Canada.
It is generally believed that resolution of the equity issue is going to require the involvement of the Department of State and other senior Administration officials because state-level U.S. negotiators have not been able to agree on harvest reductions in U.S. fisheries. Until those hard decisions are made, Canada can continue to harvest Columbia River and Washington coastal and Puget Sound stocks, perhaps at levels above the ceiling provided in the expired annex of the treaty.
The conservation and equity questions can not be separated. A reduction in the Canadian interception of U.S. weak stocks will be tied to reductions in harvest by U.S. fisheries on robust Canadian stocks. Some of the Canadian stocks being intercepted by U.S. fisheries, such as the Fraser River sockeye, are actually increasing in abundance.
Council
8.5F.1 Consult with the Administration in Washington, D.C. on possible steps to resolve the conservation and equity issues.
8.5F.2 Inform the U.S. State Department that status quo or increasing exploitation rates in Canadian salmon fisheries catching Columbia River fish negates many of the sacrifices and investments being made in the Columbia River Basin restoration efforts. In addition, the federal government trust responsibility for the Columbia River Indian Treaty Tribes is not being met. An important part of the Indian treaties guaranteed tribal fishing rights. For the tribes and other non-treaty fishers in Washington and Oregon, fishing was almost non-existent in 1994 and is likely to remain at very low levels for the foreseeable future.
U.S. State Department
8.5F.3 Intensify efforts in the government-to-government discussions with Canada to resolve the equity issue. Assemble a meaningful equity package for negotiations with Canada. Seek to achieve an agreement on equity and conservation prior to the next harvest season.
Council
8.5F.4 Absent further reductions in harvest in Canadian fisheries, call on the fishery managers to make further reductions in domestic fisheries.
8.5F.5 Consult with fishery managers to see if there are opportunities to increase the production of other stocks to provide a buffer to Snake River stocks in the intercepting fisheries, assuming that harvest ceilings are retained.