Unperfeeted Treaty No. Q–6

Convention Between the United States of America and Canada, Signed at Washington, March 27, 192922

The President of the United States of America and His Majesty the King of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, recognizing that the protection, preservation and extension of the sockeye salmon fisheries in the Fraser River system are of common concern to the United States of America and the Dominion of Canada; that the supply of this fish in recent years has been gravely depleted and that it is of the utmost importance in the mutual interest of both countries that this source of wealth should be restored and maintained, have resolved to conclude a convention and to that end have named as their respective plenipotentiaries; [Page 56]

  • The President of the United States of America:
  • Mr. Frank B. Kellogg, Secretary of State of the United States of America; and
  • His Majesty, for the Dominion of Canada:
  • The Honourable Charles Vincent Massey, P. C, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary for Canada at Washington;

Who, after having communicated to each other their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles:

Article I

The provisions of this Convention and the regulations issued pursuant thereto shall apply to the Fraser River and the streams and lakes tributary thereto and to all waters frequented by sockeye salmon included within the following boundaries:

Beginning at Carmanah Lighthouse on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, thence in a straight line to a point three marine miles due west astronomic from Tatoosh Lighthouse, Washington, thence to said Tatoosh Lighthouse, thence to the nearest point of Cape Flattery, thence following the southerly shore of Juan de Fuca Strait to Point Wilson, on Quimper Peninsula, thence in a straight line to Point Partridge on Whidbey Island, thence following the western shore of the said Whidbey Island, to the entrance to Deception Pass, thence across said entrance to the southern side of Reservation Bay, on Fidalgo Island, thence following the western and northern shore line of the said Fidalgo Island to Swinomish Slough, crossing the said Swinomish Slough, in line with the track of the Great Northern Railway, thence northerly following the shore line of the mainland to Atkinson Point at the northerly entrance to Burrard Inlet, British Columbia, thence in a straight line to the southern end of Bowen Island, thence westerly following the southern shore of Bowen Island to Cape Roger Curtis, thence in a straight line to Gower Point, thence westerly following the shore line to Welcome Point on Seechelt Peninsula, thence in a straight line to Point Young on Lasqueti Island, thence in a straight line to Dorcas Point on Vancouver Island, thence following the eastern and southern shores of the said Vancouver Island to the starting point at Carmanah Lighthouse as shown on the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Chart Number 6300, as corrected to October 20, 1924, and on the British Admiralty Chart Number 579.

The High Contracting Parties engage to have prepared as soon as practicable charts of the waters described in this Article, with the above described boundaries and the International boundary line indicated thereon. They further agree to establish within the territory of the United States and the territory of the Dominion of Canada such buoys and marks for the purposes of this Convention as [Page 57] may be recommended by the Commission hereinafter authorized to be established, and to refer such of these recommendations as relate to points on the boundary to the International Boundary Commission, United States-Alaska and Canada, for action pursuant to the provisions of the Treaty respecting the boundary between the United States and Canada signed February 24, 1925.

Article II

The High Contracting Parties agree to establish and maintain a Commission to be known as the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission, hereinafter called the Commission, consisting of six members, three on the part of the United States of America, and three on the part of the Dominion of Canada.

The Commissioners on the part of the United States shall be appointed by the President of the United States, and the Commissioner of Fisheries of the United States shall be one of them. The Commissioners on the part of the Dominion of Canada shall be appointed by His Majesty on the recommendation of the Governor-General-in-Council.

The Commission shall continue in existence so long as this Convention shall continue in force, and each High Contracting Party shall have power to fill and shall fill from time to time vacancies which may occur in its representation on the Commission in the same manner as the original appointments are made. Each High Contracting Party shall pay the salaries and expenses of its own Commissioners, and the joint expenses incurred by the Commission shall be paid by the two High Contracting Parties in equal moities.

Article III

The Commission shall make a thorough investigation into the natural history of the Fraser River Sockeye salmon, into hatchery methods, spawning ground conditions and other related matters. It shall conduct the sockeye salmon fish cultural operations in the area described in Article I, and to that end it shall have power to improve spawning grounds, acquire, construct and maintain hatcheries, rearing ponds and other such facilities as it may determine to be necessary for the propagation of sockeye salmon in the water covered by this Convention, and to stock the waters with sockeye salmon by such methods as it may determine to be most advisable. The Commission shall also have authority to recommend to the two Governments the removal of obstructions to the ascent of sockeye salmon in the waters covered by this Convention, that may now exist or may from time to time occur, and to improve conditions for the ascent of sockeye salmon, where investigation may show such to be desirable. The Commission shall report annually to the two [Page 58] Governments what it has accomplished and the results of its investigations.

The cost of all such work shall be borne equally by the two Governments, and the said Governments agree to appropriate annually such money as each may deem desirable for such work in the light of the reports of the Commission.

Article IV

The International Salmon Fisheries Commission established pursuant to Article II of this Convention is hereby empowered, between the first day of June and the twentieth day of August in any year, for the whole or any part of the aforesaid period, to limit or prohibit the taking of sockeye salmon in respect of all the waters described in Article I of this Convention, or in respect of waters of the United States and Canadian waters separately, provided, that when any order is adopted by the Commission limiting or prohibiting the taking of sockeye salmon in regard to waters of the United States or Canadian waters separately, it shall extend to all of the waters of the United States or Canadian waters to which this Convention applies, and Provided further, that no order limiting or prohibiting the taking of sockeye salmon adopted by the International Salmon Fisheries Commission shall be construed to suspend or otherwise affect the requirements of the laws of the State of Washington or of the Dominion of Canada as to the procuring of a license to fish in the waters on their respective sides of the boundary line. Any order adopted by the Commission limiting or prohibiting the taking of sockeye salmon in said waters during said period, or any part thereof, shall remain in full force and effect unless and until the same be modified or set aside by the Commission. The taking of sockeye salmon in said waters during said period in violation of the orders of the Commission adopted from time to time is hereby prohibited.

Article V

In order to secure a proper escapement of sockeye salmon during the spring or chinook salmon fishing season, the International Salmon Fisheries Commission may prescribe the size of the meshes in all fishing gear and appliances operated in the waters described in Article I of this Convention which are frequented by sockeye salmon.

Whenever the taking of sockeye salmon in said waters during said period between the first of June and the twentieth of August in any year is permitted under the orders adopted by the Commission in respect of waters of the United States, any fishing appliance legally authorized by the State of Washington may be used in such waters by any person thereunto authorized by that State, and whenever the taking of sockeye salmon in said waters during said period is permitted [Page 59] under the orders adopted by the Commission in respect of Canadian waters any fishing appliances authorized by the laws of the Dominion of Canada may be used in such waters by any person thereunto legally authorized.

Article VI

No action taken by the Commission under the authority of Articles IV and V of this Convention shall be effective unless it is affirmatively voted for by at least two of the Commissioners from each country.

Article VII

Inasmuch as the purpose of this Convention is to establish for the High Contracting Parties, by their joint effort and expense, a fishery that is now largely non-existent, each of the High Contracting Parties should share equally in the fishery. The Commission shall, consequently, in regulating the fishery do so with the object of enabling, as nearly as they can, an equal portion of the fish that is allowed to be caught each year to be taken by the fishermen of each High Contracting Party.

Article VIII

Each High Contracting Party shall be responsible for the enforcement of the regulations provided by the Commission in the portion of their respective waters covered by the Convention, and to this end they agree to enact and enforce such legislation as may be necessary to make effective the provisions of this Convention, with appropriate penalties for violations thereof.

Article IX

The present Convention shall be ratified by the President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by His Majesty in accordance with constitutional practice, and it shall become effective upon the date of the exchange of ratifications which shall take place at Washington as soon as possible and shall continue in force for a period of sixteen years, and thereafter until one year from the day on which either of the High Contracting Parties shall give notice to the other of its desire to terminate it.

In witness whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention, and have affixed their seals thereto.

Done in duplicate at Washington, the twenty-seventh day of March, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-nine.

[seal]
Frank B. Kellogg

[seal]
Vincent Massey
  1. Not ratified; ordered December 13, 1929, by the Senate, to be returned to the President.