Fish treaty
draws mixed

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By CHRISTIANA WIENS
THE PACIFIC Salmon
Treaty agreed to June 3 by
Canada and the United
States is bad news for north-
emt fishermen, says a former
NDP MP for Skeena.

The treaty, which failed to
stop the Alaskans from fish-
ing for coho bound for the
Skeena River, means Cana-
da’s fishing regulations will
be at least as strict as last
year, said Jim Fulton, now
the executive director of the
David Suzuki Foundation in
Vancouver.

Fulton said the deal will
make trolling and gillnetting
more difficult in B.C.’s
north.

“The norih got the worst
deal,”’ said Fulton. “We got
skinned alive.”

He said federal fisheries
minister David Anderson
will have to act quickly in
releasing a coastal fishing
plan so commercial
fishermen have some op-
portunities to fish.

Helimut Giesbrecht agrees.

‘It’s the last nail in the
coffin for commercial
fishermen,”’ said the NDP
MLA for Skeena.

Giesbrecht predicted an-
other dismal fishing season
for the northcoast.

‘'Whatever is done now
will probably be a slight
benefit to fishing lodge
owners on the coast,” be
said.

The agreement, he said,
ignores B.C, interests by not
including a provincial repre-
sentative at the table.

Giesbrecht said the deal
was just another example of
the federal government
looking out for international
interests while ignoring
coastal] concerns.

“Tt’s an outrageous sell
off of Canadian resources
for American interests,’’ he
said. “It’s extremefy dis-
appointing,”?....... Joma
_ He said Anderson and the
provincial liberals — who
he said have been notably
silent on the treaty —- are
taking advantage of the
provincial = government’s
lack of popularity to dis-
regard Glen Clark’s con-
cems.

The agreement is the first
since the 1985 U.S. Canada
deal expired in 1992,

That agreement, said
Anderson, Was based on a
time when west coast sal-
mon populations were rela-
tively healthy,

Since then, B.C. fishers
have faced strict closures to
conserve faltering coho and
chinook stocks,

The new agreement uses a

tactic called abundance-
based management which
means each country will
monitor fish numbers and
catch a certain percentage of
that year’s run.

In the past, Canadian
fishermen used pre-set catch
limits which ignored low

Jim Fulton

ca

Harry Nyce
stocks and put Canadian
fishermen — who are more
apt to catch fish at the end
of the run at a disadvantage.

Under ithe  agrecment,
Alaska is set to close coho
‘toll fisheries if stocks ap-
pear less than adequate.

For sockeye, Alaskan
gillnetiers will be allowed to
harvest 13.8 per cent of the
Nass River surplus.

The Alaskan seine fishery
will harvest 2.45 per cent of
the Nass and Skeena spring
sockeye, reaping in an
estimated 20,000 fish in
1999. as compared to
571,000 in 1997,

In addition, Canada and
the U.S. are set to create a

Transboundary. Rivers Panel. | -
to regulate coho,” sockeye“ }- ~~

and chinook stocks on the
Siikine, Taku and Alsek
Rivers in B,C.’s north.

The Americans are also
set ta put aside $209 million
(Canadian) for two endow-
ment funds. About $112
million of that money will
go toward northern restora-
tion and enhancement with
the remaining $97 million
for southern restoration
projects.

The money will be admin-
istered by both governments
over three years. The deal
relies on U.S. Congress ap-
proval.

wk kkk

Harry Nyce, the Nisga’a
representalive on fishing is-
sues was in Alaska last
week to talk about fishing
issucs in the Nisga’a treaty.

He thought the U.S. Cana-
da deal posilively addressed
conservation concemms on
the Nass River.

‘Tvs a sigh of relief for
the Nass River,’” Nyce said.

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The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 9, 1997 - A13

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