In the aftermath of an international incident this summer, Canada and the United States are discussing how to enforce fishing rules in the disputed waters of Dixon Entrance, south of Ketchikan.
``We are trying to develop a practical arrangement where each side will leave the other's vessels alone,'' said David Balton, who is leading the American side in the talks for the U.S. State Department.
The Canadians want to make sure both parties understand clearly how the other side will enforce fisheries laws, said David Bevan, the director general of conservation and protection for the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
The talks, which began late last month, were prompted by the Canadian seizure of an Alaska black cod fisherman and his boat in early July. Dale Bosworth of Petersburg was fishing south of what the Canadians think of as the maritime boundary and north of the U.S.-defined boundary.
Canadian authorities said Bosworth was fishing for a nontraditional species and therefore it wasn't legal. He was released a day later with a warning. The United States protested the seizure and Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles called for the Canadians to apologize and compensate Bosworth.
``They did respond to our protest and said they regretted the incident and they regarded it as exceptional,'' Balton said.
But the underlying dispute about fisheries enforcement remains.
American officials believed the two countries had agreed to enforce laws only against their own fishermen in the disputed waters. The sticking point is that Canada says the enforcement agreement applies only to what it calls traditional species - fish traditionally caught in the area.
Canada doesn't want fisheries expanded in what it sees as its own waters, Bevan said.
Bevan wouldn't say whether Canada dates traditional fisheries from 1903, when the maritime boundary it recognizes was set, or from 1978, when the law enforcement agreement was most recently renewed.
Americans have been fishing for black cod in Dixon Entrance for at least 30 years, said Victoria O'Connell, the state's Southeast regional groundfish biologist. Americans caught about 95 metric tons of black cod in Dixon Entrance last year, much of that in the disputed waters.
The Canadians already know about American catches through information shared in a subcommittee of the Pacific States Marine Fishery Commission, O'Connell said.
Apparently, the data will get a fresh look in the new international discussions.
The Canadians are willing to look at all the information on fisheries in the area, Bevan said from Ottawa. But he wouldn't say whether Canada will change its interpretation of traditional fisheries.
``It's pretty premature to judge how that might come out,'' he said.
