Salmon Treaty Talks On Hold After Four U.S. Boats Seized Reimposition Of Transit Fees Suggested By Premier Clark
West Coast salmon treaty talks with Canada were postponed Tuesday because of the seizure of four U.S. fishing boats off British Columbia’s Vancouver Island.
A statement issued by Nicholas R. Burns, a spokesman for the State Department in Washington, D.C., said the detention “created an atmosphere inimical to progress in these talks and is unhelpful to efforts to find a solution to the Pacific salmon dispute.”
The talks, previously scheduled to resume Friday, are being delayed “until a more favorable climate for discussions can be achieved,” Burns added.
“The U.S. hopes that Canada will release these vessels immediately and refrain from seizing others with the goal of resolving the salmon problem in the spirit of compromise and good neighborliness,” he concluded.
At an earlier briefing, another agency spokesman, John Dinger, said the boat detentions “may poison the atmosphere” for negotiations.
“The actions which Canada has specifically imposed are in retaliation for suspension of salmon talks and are obviously extremely disruptive to our ability to go forward in negotiations,” Dinger said.
Shortly after word arrived of the detention of the fourth boat, the Seattle-based Christina, British Columbia Premier Glen Clark and Washington Gov. Gary Locke met here for nearly half an hour Tuesday and agreed to disagree about how to end the “salmon war.”
“In my judgment, Canada has to respond to this by increasing the pressure,” Clark said. “We cannot back down in the face of this.
“I am very disappointed that the State Department called off the talks. In my view, this confirms my worst fears that the United States is not interested in a treaty.”
Three years ago the Canadian government briefly charged transit fees of about $1,100 for each U.S. fishing boat plying the Inland Passage between Vancouver Island and the mainland.
“In my judgment, the Canadian government should reimpose transit fees immediately,” Clark said.
Locke predicted that negotiations would resume soon after the Canadian national elections on Monday.
“I think, first of all, that the seizure of the boats is most unfortunate, did not add to a good climate of negotiations,” the governor said. “I think that all sides just need to perhaps just lower the temperature.”
Like three others whose boats were detained, the skipper of the Christina, Robert Ayers, will be charged with failure to report by radio after entering Canadian waters, said officials with Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The 75-foot halibut boat was taken to Port Hardy at the northern tip of Vancouver Island. Ayers was scheduled to appear in court today.
Meanwhile, the skippers of three boats seized Sunday and Monday were each fined about $220, The Canadian Press reported.
Prosecutors in Port Hardy sought fines of $1,100 each for violating the “hail-in” requirement, which carries a maximum penalty of about $360,000, but Provincial Court Judge Brian Saunderson said Tuesday the skippers were political pawns in an international dispute.
Kirby Green of Petersburg, Alaska, owner and skipper of the Janet G, said it was still a stiff fine. Green, Tom Millman of Kodiak, Alaska, and Peter Xitco of Port Angeles paid their fines before leaving.
“It’s unfortunate that the Canadian government has turned to gunboat diplomacy,” said Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles. “We have to remember there are people out there trying to pay their mortgages, make their boat payments, working hard and they should not be pawns in a political game.”
The Canadian enforcement crack-down began shortly after the collapse of negotiations on sharing and management of fish under the Pacific Salmon Treaty, which covers the waters off Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and southeast Alaska.