PST Recent News

Columbia River Chinook returns boosted under new US/Canada salmon agreement

On May 22 negotiators from the United States and Canada announced completion of a ten-year agreement for Chinook management under the Pacific Salmon Treaty that promotes sustainability through reductions in ocean fisheries and funding of improved assessment programs. The Chinook Chapter of the Treaty is the final piece of an 18-month negotiation that includes arrangements for coho, chum, and transboundary rivers.

The agreement reduces Chinook catches in the Southeast Alaska fishery by 15% and in the West Coast Vancouver Island fishery by 30% from the 1999 agreement. Expected to increase the annual returns of summer and fall Chinook to the Upper Columbia River significantly (3-7 %) the agreement includes funding to aid harvest reductions in the Canadian commercial salmon troll fishery. Additional funding improves stock assessments, including estimates of fisheries impacts and escapement.

The Pacific Salmon Treaty was adopted by the United States and Canada in 1985. The Treaty provides a framework for management of fisheries in Southeast Alaska, British Columbia and Pacific Northwest and established the Pacific Salmon Commission which meets annually to recommend fishing levels in northern ocean fisheries. The current agreement was adopted in 1999 and is set to expire on December 31, 2008.

The agreement and the letter of transmittal are posted on the PSC website. www.psc.org

PST news on the web

The Seattle Times. May 26, 2008. A workable fix to save salmon.

The News Tribune. June 6, 2008. Putting the fate of salmon first.

Tri-City Herald. June 3, 2008. Salmon plan makes sense.

Wenatchee World. May 28, 2008. Good work for salmon at sea.