By atuna.com

The reciprocal albacore tuna fishing agreement between the U.S. and Canada is outdated and needs to be revised, said the California-based Western Fishboat Owners Association in a statement last week.

“The treaty that has existed for 31 years has not caught up with the times and needs modifications,” said the group.

The Western Fishboat Owners Association (WFOA), which represents about 400 albacore troll-vessel owners, issued the statement in support of the recent U.S. decision to suspend the agreement. The agreement, which expired in Dec. 2011, allowed both countries to fish for albacore tuna in their neighbor’s territorial waters.

The group said the suspension is a “unique opportunity” to reexamine the treaty.

“WFOA finds that there needs to be refinement in the data collection process, and that both nations need to harmonize data collection. Also, there needs to be an examination of catch determination, capacity, and the economics of the fishery as influenced by the Treaty.”

The U.S. raised concerns during negotiations in December and the Canadian advisors were preparing to address the issues at a meeting scheduled, but now cancelled, for today. An economic study was commissioned to determine Canada’s impact on U.S. ports and it has yet to be released.

According to Donald McIsaac, executive director of the Pacific Fishery Management Council, Canadian fishing in U.S. waters has increased, along with their catch per unit effort, and the overcrowding on U.S. fishing grounds has led to confrontations.

While WOFA said they prefer to limit the fishermen to their own territorial waters and to the high seas at the moment, the group also said the suspension should not encourage each nation to retaliate by denying port unloading privileges and transit by vessels through national waters.

U.S. and Canadian officials are scheduled to meet in Washington, D.C.  within the next two weeks, according to the British Columbia Tuna Fishermen’s Association and the Canadian Highly Migratory Species foundation, two Canadian industry groups who want to see the negotiations re-opened.

The American Albacore Fishing Association (AAFA), who reportedly supports the no reciprocal fishing policy, would not comment on the issue.