March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Politics prevails over science in salmon harvest > Greenland’s commercial haul could devastate fragile Atlantic resource

ROCKLAND — The failure of diplomats to stop the high-seas hijacking of wild Atlantic salmon off the coast of Greenland before they reach their home rivers in Maine and the Canadian Maritimes is being criticized here as a triumph of politics over science.

A meeting of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization last week in Gothenburg, Sweden, ended one vote short of the unanimous agreement needed to set the amount of salmon that may be taken by Greenlanders from the Labrador Sea, despite a recommen- dation by scientists that depleted stocks should allow for no ocean harvest this year.

As a result, Greenland can establish unilaterally its own quota, which legally could go as high as 271 metric tons, nearly four times last year’s haul — the largest commercial harvest in years and one scientists say could devastate an already fragile resource in North America.

It is estimated that well over half of the salmon harvested in Greenland originate in the rivers of New England, Maine in particular, and the Maritimes.

The United States and Canada have spent more than $150 million in recent years to restore Atlantic salmon to their rivers, only to have much of the result die in the nets of Greenland fishermen. Atlantic salmon are being considered for listing as an endangered species in Hancock and Washington counties in eastern Maine, a designation many fear would cripple the region’s aquaculture, agriculture and forest products industries.

The recommendation of no North Atlantic salmon harvest this year came from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea which acts as scientific adviser to NASCO.

The proposed moratorium was backed by NASCO members the United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, the Russian Federation and the European Union but was defeated by a lone opposing vote by Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous part.

In 1993, NASCO agreed to a five-year treaty allowing the 57,000 inhabitants of Greenland, the world’s largest island, a subsistence salmon fishery of 12 metric tons, with any additional commercial harvest based upon ICES’ annual stock assessment. After six straight years of stock assessments that turned out to be grossly inflated, ICES developed an improved scientific model this year that led to the recommendation of no ocean harvest.

Denmark, however, insisted that the 1993 treaty be upheld, including the use of the flawed science of the time.

Andy Rosenburg, Northeast director of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service and the leader of the U.S. delegation to Sweden, said Friday that Denmark’s position “is very unfortunate and unreasonable, based upon politics rather than the best science available. Obviously, a harvest anywhere near 271 metric tons would be devastating — we believe anything more than zero would be harmful. We and the other countries will keep applying the pressure to keep the harvest as low as possible. Certainly, nobody’s going to war over this, but we will use the force of sweet reason.”

In 1993 and 1994, Greenland’s salmon quota was bought out for $850,000, with most of the money raised by the Atlantic Salmon Federation, a nonprofit private organization. An attempted buyout failed last year when the Greenlanders and the federation could not agree upon a price.

Rosenburg said there is a feeling among the NASCO majority that Greenland may be playing hardball merely to get a bigger buyout offer. “The buyout is a function of the private sector, separate from the negotiations between governments, but there were rumors that Greenland is holding out to get the highest quota and then a much higher buyout. It is disturbing to think that a process based upon science could be turned into something so cynical.”

John Albright of Brunswick, director of the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s U.S. operations, said the result, should Greenland attempt to catch anything close to 271 metric tons of salmon this year “would range from a best case of a bad year two years from now to a worst case of putting everything in a tailspin.”

“No one believes they could come even close to the maximum quota, but to even try would be tragic to our rivers,” he said. “One would think that an international treaty based upon science would always use the best science available. Here, we have one country with a vested interest insisting on using a 3-year-old model that’s been shown to be flawed. That’s politics for you.”

On an optimistic note, Albright said all NASCO countries, including Denmark, agreed to open discussions on upgrading the scientific criteria for the salmon quota for next year, one year before the 1993 treaty runs out.

“There is a very strong hope that we can get the new science in use a year earlier and build in the flexibility to incorporate better science as it comes along so we don’t face this situation again,” he said. “There is money available to pursue a buyout, but we can’t get involved in an elaborate game just to send more money to Greenland.”

The salmon harvest accounts for only 1 percent of Greenland’s income, suggesting to Albright that there’s another reason Greenlanders cling fiercely to the fishery.

“Salmon is a small part of their national product in dollars, but it accounts for about a fourth of their yearly activity — it’s a very tradition-laden, time-consuming activity in a place where there’s not much to do. Those of us who want to preserve and restore salmon need to understand this cultural basis. We need to help Greenlanders find other ways to keep their ocean-based culture,” he said.


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