An environmental history of the salmon management philosophies of the North Pacific: Japan, Russia, Canada, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest United States

Salmon management philosophies of the five salmon jurisdictions of the North Pacific (Japan, Russia, Canada, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest United States) are examined in a historical and geographic context. The principal objective is to elucidate the relative role of geography versus deliberate management action in shaping contemporary salmon management philosophies. The secondary objective is to provide a synthesis of salmon management experience across the North Pacific, to serve as a context for the professionals and private citizens involved in day-to-day salmon management. Harvest trends, species composition, regulatory actions, property rights, technological innovation, climate variability, habitat alteration, markets, international agreements, and science are reviewed for each jurisdiction over time. The source material is drawn from a variety of scholarly and popular published sources, in Russian and English. The inferred salmon management philosophies of the five jurisdictions vary in their emphasis on three primary salmon management objectives: maximizing biomass production, preserving salmon harvest communities, and conserving salmonid genetic and life history diversity. All initially heavily emphasized biomass production, except for Canada. Only Japan, and Alaska after statehood, have given moderate or great emphasis to community preservation. Among the five jurisdictions, the only two to emphasize biodiversity conservation are the Pacific Northwest United States and British Columbia, Canada. The initial species endowment of each jurisdiction, the landscape, climate variability and the cultural heritage of the dominant salmon harvesters are more critical at shaping salmon management philosophies than are incremental regulatory decisions over time. Change in salmon management philosophies, such as the shift to an emphasis on biodiversity conservation in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest, occurs when the legal harvest rights of salmon harvester subgroups changes during a period of harvest decline. In the case of the latter two jurisdictions, the increased legal rights of native peoples have catalyzed a shift from an emphasis on biomass production to biodiversity conservation.