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Changes needed to Pacific Salmon TreatyFebruary 14, 2007 - For immediate release VANCOUVER - A new Pacific Salmon Treaty Reform Coalition, made up of conservation groups from the U.S. and Canada, is calling for changes to the Pacific Salmon Treaty to ensure it protects the diversity and abundance of salmon and salmon habitat. The Pacific Salmon Commission is meeting this week in Portland, Oregon to discuss the future of the Treaty. The David Suzuki Foundation along with Trout Unlimited, the Wild Salmon Center and the International Environmental Law Project in the United States, are attending to make Commissioners aware of their concerns. “The two countries must stop fighting over who gets what bits of our remaining salmon and address the need for long-term conservation of salmon and salmon habitat,” said Jay Ritchlin, Marine Conservation Specialist at the David Suzuki Foundation. The Canada-U.S. treaty governs harvest of salmon stocks shared by the two countries, including many that originate in Canada. The current ten-year agreement expires at the end of 2008. Citing a recent scientific review of the Treaty’s management regime, the coalition is calling for amendments that require the parties to maintain diversity of salmon species and habitats. The review was released on February 13, 2007. “If the two nations are serious about conserving salmon, especially in the face of climate change, they should hold themselves accountable for protecting the diversity of salmon and for restoring salmon habitat,” said Ritchlin. “Scientists are in agreement that diversity is what has allowed salmon to persist and flourish.” The coalition also recommends that Treaty negotiations be opened to more public participation and transparency. Currently, the process is far out of step with modern international fishery management agreements. “All stakeholders should be informed and actively involved in decision-making when public resources are allocated and managed,” noted Ritchlin. -30- Media contacts: David Suzuki Foundation Trout Unlimited Jeff Curtis International Environmental Law Project
Backgrounder: Pacific Salmon Treaty Reform The Pacific Salmon Treaty (PST) was first ratified in 1985. Various components of the Treaty are reviewed and renegotiated over time. The current negotiation is focused on Annex IV, which contains many of the functional parts of the Treaty. The Pacific Salmon Commission governs the treaty’s implementation. They are meeting this week at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Downtown Portland, Oregon. Additional meetings will take place between now and expiration of key provisions in 2008. The Pacific Salmon Treaty Reform Coalition includes the David Suzuki Foundation, Trout Unlimited (US), the Wild Salmon Center, and the International Environmental Law Project of the United States. Canadian salmon stocks covered by the PST: Fraser and Skeena River stocks, Chinook and coho from the West Coast of Vancouver Island, and salmon that originate in trans-boundary rivers of the Yukon and Northern British Columbia are among those covered. Scientific review process: On January 4th, 2007 the PST Reform Coalition convened a scientific workshop to assess the effectiveness and the opportunity of the PST in meeting conservation-based principles and objectives. The PST Reform Coalition published a workshop report and used this information to define four principles to improve the PST:
Precautionary Management The Coalition is also urging the Commission to adopt the “precautionary principle’ in establishing management regimes. This internationally adopted scientific principle simply recognizes the difficulty in getting absolute certainly about many of the environmental factors that affect salmon and argues for erring on the side of conservation when managing salmon. Learn more:
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