Significant numbers of salmon returning to spawn in British Columbia are being caught in southeast Alaskan fisheries, hindering Canada’s efforts to preserve and rebuild stocks that are declining to historic lows, B.C. salmon advocates say.
The treaty states that both countries should manage their fisheries to prevent overfishing and ensure they each receive benefits equal to the salmon that spawn in their respective waters. But as B.C. stocks decline, the treaty is failing to deliver that balance, said Knox, who is a member of the Pacific Salmon Commission’s regional panel focused on northern B.C. and Alaska fisheries.Greg Taylor, fisheries adviser for the B.C.
Alaska doesn’t have an incentive to curtail its harvesting of salmon that spawn outside its jurisdiction, he said, even as the Canadian government and First Nations in B.C. have limited harvesting to help preserve stocks. About 60 per cent of B.C.’s commercial salmon fisheries were closed last June as part of the federal government’s Pacific salmon recovery efforts.
A single Alaskan seine fishery known as district 104 caught more than 400,000 of those sockeye, he said. It operates on the state’s outer coast, north of Haida Gwaii, and intercepts the migration route for many B.C. salmon. “We currently have no real idea how many of those fish Alaska is catching, which is a huge gap and undermines our ability to meet the principles set out in the treaty.”