Trollers blast $30-million salmon treaty as 'buyout'

[CHIMO]

VANCOUVER — A $30-million payment to Canada by the United States under the newly negotiated Pacific Salmon Treaty is expected to raise sovereignty issues because the money will be used to buy out a fleet of commercial boats in British Columbia.

"I think we're about to be exterminated. ... This looks like the end of an era," Kathy Scarfo, president of the West Coast Trollers Association, said after being briefed on the agreement, which was released yesterday. "This is a buyout. It's an expropriation of the salmon troll fleet."

The Pacific Salmon Commission, which arrived at the new deal after 18 months of negotiations, describes the $30-million payment as money provided "to support transition in Canadian fisheries impacted by the conservation measures outlined in the agreement."

Those conservation measures call for a 30-per-cent reduction in the salmon catch off the west coast of Vancouver Island, where most of the fish are headed for rivers in Washington and Oregon, and a 15-per-cent reduction of the catch in Alaska, which should benefit Canada by allowing more salmon to escape to spawn in northern B.C. rivers.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080523.wbctreaty23/BNStory/National/

The only time the Harper government does anything for Canada is when the court is going to prevent some of his legislation.