 U.S. State Department Agrees To Murkowski's Request To Pursue Canadian Fish Farming Issues April 08, 2002
"We agree that this [fish farming] is an issue deserving of serious discussion. As a result of your letter, we are seeking the input of USG (United States Government) technical agencies that deal with these matters," wrote Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, Paul V. Kelly, in a letter to Murkowski. "Based on their comments, we will address the best way to deal with this issue vis-a-vis Canada." "I am pleased that the State Department plans to act on this important issue," Murkowski said. "There is no time to waste. The risks are too great - disease, pollution, predation and competition - and the list goes on. "Fish farming in British Columbia is within provincial jurisdiction, but Atlantic salmon farming as it is currently practiced creates a grave danger for existing wild Pacific salmon stocks, including Alaska's," Murkowski said. "Because the potential for damage to our native salmon resources is so immediate, it is an appropriate matter for action by the two federal governments." On Feb. 15th Sen. Murkowski wrote to Secretary of State Colin Powell asking the Secretary to initiate negotiations with Canada toward a new Annex to the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Murkowski said the new Annex is needed to address threats to Pacific salmon stocks from British Columbia's Atlantic salmon farms. A decision by the British Columbia government to lift a moratorium that has prevented northward expansion of the farmed salmon business was a factor in the decision to request negotiations. Murkowski, an observer and participant in the process since the treaty was signed in 1985, noted that the current treaty addresses only the conservation of the five native Pacific salmon species. Murkowski also noted the sensitivity of the issue and that the treaty's required annual decision- making process has broken down twice in the last decade.
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