What the Pacific Salmon Commission is NOT

• A government agency or a non-profit organization.
• Able to act without consensus between both countries.
• The headquarters staff in downtown Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
  • The staff in Vancouver are the Commission’s Secretariat; the Commission authorizes creation or deletion of staff positions.
  • The Secretariat is an administrative body which supports and enables the Commission to do its work.

How it Works

The Pacific Salmon Treaty specifies administrative rules such as the location and frequency of meetings; establishes fisheries management guidelines and policies, outlines research recommendations, and establishes specific tasks and responsibilities for the Technical Committees and Panels.

Each country retains jurisdictional management authority of their fisheries, but manages them in a manner that is consistent with the rules set out in the Treaty.

The fundamental role of the Pacific Salmon Commission is two-fold:

1. To prevent overfishing and provide for optimum production; and
2. To provide for each Party to receive benefits equivalent to the production of salmon originating in its waters.

Each country has a single vote in the Commission. Therefore, each national section must express its position in a single vote and all bilateral agreements require agreement between the two national sections.

Essentially, the Commission works like this: