Pacific Salmon War
After aggressive tacks on both sides, Alaskan fishers were granted free rein to fish for 56 hours around Noyes Island.
In retaliation, a flotilla consisting of between 100 and 200 Canadian fishing boats surrounded the Alaskan ferry MV Malaspina in the port of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, for three days.
Heightened tensions continued for the rest of the fishing season, with Premier Glen Clark of British Columbia threatening to close the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges (CFMETR) in Nanoose Bay.
Pacific salmon have been an important food source and trade commodity for Northwest First Nations peoples for millennia.
In 1930, the governments met and proposed the Fraser River Convention to regulate fishing and mitigate environmental damage to salmon habitats.
[3][4][5] It limited catches of Alaska, Fraser, and Columbia salmon to pre-set quotas and committed the governments to improving the spawning capacities of the region's rivers.
[13] The following month, the AP wrote that "The opening shots in what some people are calling an international 'fish war' could be fired by the Canadian government Thursday.
The US argued that the fee was in violation of the law of the sea, which grants "innocent right of passage to vessels through a country's territorial waters".
Though it was supported by various Canadians, the fee was suspended after Vice President of the United States Al Gore agreed to further negotiations,[19] but not before C$325,000 had been charged to 285 fishing boats.
The United States rejected his conclusions,[24] and 1996 Alaska was accused of placing limits on their fishers that were too high by British Columbia.
[30] After the incident, American senator Frank H. Murkowski proposed an escort for the boats composed of US Navy or US Coast Guard ships.
[30] During a breakdown in treaty negotiations in early July, a group of around 100 American fishermen were allowed to fish as much as they wanted around Noyes Island for 56 hours.
Clark was reluctant to give the US Navy permission to operate submarines and canceled a US Canada economic conference.
[31] On July 19, 1997, a flotilla consisting of between 100 and 200 Canadian fishing boats surrounded the Alaskan ferry MV Malaspina in the port of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, in retaliation for the Noyes Island incident.
A court ordered the boats to move the following day, and they refused, requesting to speak to David Anderson, the Canadian Minister of Fisheries.
[35] In response to the blockade, Alaskan ferry services to Prince Rupert were halted, depriving the region of many tourists—a major source of income.
[12][36][37] In September 1997 in Seattle, Glen Clark filed a lawsuit against the United States, seeking C$325 million in damages and alleging American fishers broke the terms of the treaty.
[38] In October, Raymond Chrétien, the Canadian Ambassador to the United States, wrote a letter to the US House Natural Resources Committee, saying that "During the last three years, cooperation with the United States on the conservation of chinook salmon has been a major problem," and complaining about Alaskan over-fishing.
[41] Before the 1999 fishing season, a deal between Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Canada, and various native tribes was signed with new restrictions, and the conflict was essentially ended.
