Leaders Promise Focus On Salmon, Not Rhetoric Locke, B.C. Premier Agree To End Bickering When Treaty Talks Resume This Month

Wed., March 11, 1998

Associated Press

British Columbia Premier Glen Clark and Washington Gov. Gary Locke on Tuesday promised to restrain political bickering and focus on restoring salmon runs as the United States and Canada prepare to reopen talks on fishing rights.

Emerging from a 45-minute meeting, Locke said the two leaders agreed on the need to work together and “tone down” the contentious rhetoric that has chilled relations between the Pacific Northwest neighbors. He endorsed British Columbia’s participation in the Pacific Salmon Treaty talks scheduled to resume in Washington, D.C., later this month.

“I want all the players at the table,” Locke said, citing the federal governments of both countries, representatives of Washington, Alaska, Oregon and British Columbia and Indian tribes. “We all recognize we don’t want to be fighting over the very last little salmon in the waters of the North Pacific.”

Clark has been a controversial figure in the dispute. Last year, he threatened to evict the U.S. Navy from a testing range off Vancouver Island and his provincial government sued the United States for over-fishing. A federal judge in Seattle dismissed the $325 million lawsuit in January.

Other notable events included the detainment of four U.S. fishing boats by the Canadian Coast Guard and a blockade of an Alaska state ferry by Canadian fishing boat operators.

“We’ve tried today to put aside some of the past, to try to start fresh - a new beginning to move this issue forward,” Clark said. “I haven’t changed my views on the issues with respect to over-fishing. But at the same time, it’s critical that we resolve this, and we’re not going to resolve it unless we have open dialogue.”

Locke has remained fairly quiet during the past year but has been asked by the federal government to take a leadership role, said his press secretary, Marylou Flynn.

Clark said he has been impressed with Locke’s words and actions in recent weeks as Washington copes with the possibility of severe restrictions if chinook salmon - the high-quality fish also known as king salmon - are declared an endangered or threatened species by the U.S. government.

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