On Monday, Canada and the United States renewed the Pacific Salmon Treaty (PST), first signed in 1985. Some changes were made to the PST, and the renewed chapters "will help to ensure the long-term sustainability of Pacific salmon stocks while supporting an economically viable fishing industry on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border".
While I applaud the Honorable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, (in picture) for continuing to keep long-term sustainability of Pacific salmon stocks on the agenda, I can't help but feel a little pessimistic. This treaty was first signed 24 years ago, and for the past 24 years, fish population and ocean health has declined - largely a result of poor fisheries management practices.
The renewed treaty will remain in place until 2018, at which point I assume it will be reviewed and renewed again. Or perhaps by that time, it will no longer be necessary, because there will be no remaining wild Pacific salmon to protect.
A gloomy thought...
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I can still hear the words of DFO when they were seeking the support of the troll fleet 24 years ago, "Short term pain for long term gain". However, I shudder to imagine what the state of the stocks would be today if there was no treaty.
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