July, 2014
Pacific salmon are migratory and, over the course of their life-cycle, salmon originating in the rivers of one country are often subject to the fisheries of another. To support conservation, a significant amount of bilateral cooperation is required. The Pacific Salmon Treaty (PST) was first signed by Canada and the U.S. in 1985 to provide the framework through which the two countries work together to conserve and manage Pacific salmon.
Each country is responsible for managing its fisheries, but does so in a way that is consistent with the Treaty. The Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) is the body formed by the governments of Canada and the United States to implement the PST.
The PST fishing chapters contained in Annex IV are essential to the functioning of the Treaty. Chapter 4 of the PST sets out the specific Canadian and American conservation and harvest sharing arrangements for Fraser River sockeye and pink salmon.
The implementation and management of the PST Chapter 4 falls under the responsibility of the PSC’s Fraser River Panel. The Panel, in turn, recommends a management plan to the PSC that is based on abundance, timing and migration route forecasts, and escapement targets for Fraser River sockeye and pink salmon; international catch allocation goals; domestic catch allocation goals; management concerns for other stocks and species; and historic patterns in migration and fisheries dynamics.
The renewed Chapter 4 provisions are in effect for the 2014 fishing season and are set to expire on December 31, 2019.
In 2008, the other PST chapters in Annex IV were renewed and ratified. They remain in effect until 2018:
- Chapter 1: Transboundary Rivers (all species);
- Chapter 2: Northern Boundary (sockeye, pink and chum);
- Chapter 3: Chinook (coast-wide);
- Chapter 5: Coho (Southern B.C., Washington and Oregon); and
- Chapter 6: Chum (Southern B.C. and Washington).
News release: Canada Ratifies Changes to the Pacific Salmon Treaty
B-PR-14-14
