Statement for the Record by Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere Terry Garcia before Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, State Subcommittee, on funding of US-Canada Salmon Agreement, July 29, 1999

1
STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD
OF
TERRY D. GARCIA
SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE, THE JUDICIARY
AND RELATED AGENCIES
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
JULY 29, 1999

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the Subcommittee, for this opportunity to testify on our proposed implementation of the Pacific Salmon Agreement.

The comprehensive agreement, reached through vigorous diplomacy among the responsible parties, is designed to ensure the sustainability of five Pacific salmon species through a combination of scientific co-operation, new funds to improve fisheries management and aid recovery of weakened salmon stocks, and necessary limits on salmon catches. The agreement is based upon a recognition in both countries that co-operation is essential if our common interest in the conservation of the salmon is to be protected.

The new agreement, and its associated funds, will help resolve a major thorn of contention between the U.S. and Canada. It resolves longstanding disputes arising out of the Pacific Salmon Treaty of 1985, which delineated a fishing regime only until 1992, and even then left a number of issues unresolved.

This contention between the U.S. and Canada is of national concern. Since the regimes expired in 1992, we have been in a continual state of turmoil on the west coast. For example, in the summer of 1994, Canada imposed a transit fee on U.S. fishing boats traveling between Alaska and Washington State. In 1997, a group of angry Canadian fishermen "blockaded" and detained for three days an Alaska State ferryboat, the Malaspina. The provincial government of British Columbia, on several occasions, threatened to deny access to a torpedo testing range at Nanoose Bay used by U.S. Navy submarines. The province also has brought suit against U.S. parties in an attempt to impose its interpretations of U.S. laws relating to the Pacific Salmon Treaty.

There are four elements to the agreement under the Pacific Salmon Treaty:
Long-term Fishing Arrangements
• There are long-term fishing arrangements governing northern boundary fisheries, transboundary rivers, southern coho, Fraser River sockeye and pink, chinook salmon coast-wide, and southern chum; and also an agreement regarding conservation of northern boundary coho. These arrangements are all for ten years except for Fraser River sockeye and pink which is a twelve-year arrangement. These arrangements are based on a new, cooperative framework called abundance-based management that is more sensitive to conservation requirements than previous bilateral approaches;

This agreement provides major reforms to the fish management regimes that have governed these fisheries for over a decade. These reforms put the fish first, and calibrate the level of fishing directly to the health and abundance of the stocks. More fish, more fishing; less fish, less fishing. The Agreement places powerful new limitations on future fishing to ensure that the weak stocks of Puget Sound and the Columbia River are protected from over-harvesting.

This agreement also sends a positive signal to all parties that are working on conservation plans, and looking at changes in habitat, hatcheries, and hydropower to benefit these weak stocks. The reductions in Canadian harvest will help them meet their goal of recovering these species. These are major changes to past harvest practices and represent a firm commitment to conservation first.

Pacific Salmon Agreement Funding
• A total of $190 million in new funding will be required, including two new Pacific salmon treaty endowment funds plus grants to the states of Washington and Alaska. The two endowment funds will be administered jointly by both countries to invest in habitat, stock enhancement, science and salmon management initiatives in both countries;

The U.S. will contribute $75 million to a Northern Fund, and $65 million to a Southern Fund, over a four-year period. Either the U.S. or Canada, as well as third parties, may contribute to the funds in the future upon agreement of the Parties.

For the first year, FY 2000, we have requested $60 million to cover four different funds - the Northern Fund, the Southern Fund, the grant to Washington, and the grant to Alaska.

The FY 2000 request for the Northern Fund is $10 million and provides the initial capital for the new Northern Boundary and Transboundary Rivers Restoration and Enhancement Fund. This fund will be used for programs and projects relating to salmon resources in southeast Alaska and northern British Columbia.

The FY 2000 request for the Southern Fund is also $10 million and provides the initial capital for the new Southern Boundary Restoration and Enhancement Fund. The Southern Fund will be used for programs and projects relating to fisheries in southern British Columbia and the states of Washington, Oregon, and the Snake River basin of Idaho.

The resources in both the Northern and Southern Funds will be held by the Pacific Salmon Commission, the bilateral Commission established by the 1985 Pacific Salmon Treaty, and managed by two bilateral committees - one for each fund. Only the interest earned by the funds will be used, and then only while bilateral fishing regimes remain in force. The intent is to provide a stable and permanent source of funding for these programs while providing a strong incentive for the two countries to resolve future disputes.

Both bilateral treaty endowment funds will be used solely for purposes outlined in the 1999 Pacific Salmon Agreement and appendixes, including stock assessment, research and monitoring, habitat restoration, and fish enhancement programs. All of these programs are designed to complement the new abundance-based, conservation-oriented fishing regimes. These new regimes require a higher level of scientific and technical information, better and more complete data sets, and improved management and monitoring programs. In some cases other approaches may be employed, for example, where problems with depressed salmon stocks can be addressed by restoring degraded habitat and/or enhancing natural salmon using relatively low-technology techniques.

The Administration is grateful to Senator Stevens for introducing language specifically to authorize these funds and to appropriate a portion of the monies for them. We will have some technical suggestions on the authorizing language to ensure consistency with the 1999 Pacific Salmon Agreement. We also continue to hope that the appropriation for this year can be $10 million for each fund from the Department of Commerce budget as set forth in the Administration's budget endowment.

In addition to the two bilateral treaty endowment funds, a grant of $20 million to Washington State is requested for FY 2000. This grant will be used to reduce Washington's commercial fishing fleet to help achieve a reduction, mandated by the new agreement, in the U.S. share of Fraser River (Canadian) sockeye caught by commercial fishermen in Washington State. The $20 million is the first installment of grant request that will eventually total $30 million. The requested Federal contribution will be matched with at least $5 million from the State of Washington.

The commercial fishermen in the State of Washington will have their catches of Fraser River sockeye significantly and permanently reduced. This reduction in the U.S. share of Fraser sockeye was a primary objective of Canada. As a consequence of recent and continuing declines in Canada's catch of coho and chinook originating in Washington and Oregon, Canada sought to remedy what it sees as an imbalance of interceptions.

Also requested in FY 2000 is a grant of $20 million to Alaska. This grant will be used by Alaska for chinook and coho salmon enhancement to help mitigate for lost fishing opportunity arising from the new agreement.

The President's amended budget request for these funds will not diminish the budget surplus. Included in the budget amendment are offsets from increasing the prior-year safe harbor percentage for higher income taxpayers, a revision to the Welfare-to-Work program that postpones some of its financing, and an increase to savings proposals for the Federal Family Education Loan program.

U.S. and Canadian Cooperation
• Strengthened institutional arrangements for cooperation among U.S. and Canadian scientists and fisheries managers. This includes elaboration of the rules and procedures for technical dispute resolution, a new bilateral panel on Transboundary Rivers and the addition of a Committee on Scientific Co-operation to advise the Pacific Salmon Commission;

The agreement includes a commitment by the two countries to improve how scientific information is obtained, shared, and applied to the management of the resource. Among other things, the agreement encourages staff exchanges between the management agencies, bilateral workshops, and participation in the public domestic fisheries management processes of the other country.

Additionally, a bilateral Committee on Scientific Cooperation has been established. To be comprised of up to eight persons nominated by the two national sections of the Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC), the Committee will be charged with assisting the Commission in setting its scientific agenda, advising on research and monitoring needs, and assisting in arranging peer review and evaluation of scientific reports.

The Commission also will be encouraged to resolve scientific issues through its various technical committees and asked to elaborate rules and procedures, as necessary, for the implementation of the process set out in Article XII of the Treaty for addressing technical disputes.

Salmon Habitat
• A formal, joint commitment by both nations to protect and restore salmon habitat.

The agreement highlights the importance of habitat protection and restoration to achieving the long-term objectives of the Parties relative to salmon. While the primary focus of the agreement is on setting provisions that govern the management of fisheries, it is well understood that achieving optimum production of salmon will depend on other initiatives as well. These include, but are not limited to, maintaining adequate water quality and quantity, the achievement of improved spawning success and migration corridors for adult and juvenile salmon, and other measures that maintain and increase the production of natural stocks. The Pacific Salmon Commission will be directed to report annually to the Parties to identify stocks for which measures beyond harvest controls are required and the non-fishing factors that limit production, options for addressing these factors, and progress of the Parties in implementing measures to improve production.

As Vice President Gore said last June, "The agreement reached by U.S. and Canadian negotiators on Pacific salmon is welcome news for the environment and for the economy in both our countries. The long history of conflict over Pacific salmon illustrates that environmental challenges respect no borders." The Vice President continued by stating that the "agreement demonstrates that, by reaching across borders and working together, we can meet our common challenges in ways that ensure both a healthy environment and strong, sustainable economic growth."

Thank you again for the opportunity to testify. I would be pleased to respond to any questions members of the Subcommittee may have.