U.S., Canada may change salmon treaty

SEATTLE, May 23 (UPI) -- Canada and the United States have renegotiated a salmon treaty, cutting the number of fish that can be caught in Alaskan and Canadian waters, officials said.

If the two governments ratify the change, the catch in southeastern Alaska waters would be cut 15 percent and the catch in Canadian waters west of Vancouver Island by 30 percent, the Seattle Times reported.

The catch reduction is meant to account for fish that spawn in Washington state or British Columbia waters and then migrate northward in the ocean. Jeff Koenings, director of the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife and one of the negotiators, said 1 million Washington-born salmon would be saved over 10 years.

"With this agreement, we make a substantial down payment in our efforts to return Washington's weak wild-chinook-salmon populations back to sustainable levels," said Koenings.

The change to the treaty does not need congressional approval. But the negotiators want to ask Congress to authorize payments of $7 million to Alaska and $30 million to Canada to make up for the lost catch.