The Submitter, North Coast Steelhead Alliance (NCSA), filed a submission on enforcement matters pursuant to Articles 14 and 15 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC or Agreement) with the Secretariat of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation. NCSA alleged that the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) was failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws in relation to commercial fishing licenses for salmon in the Skeena River, on the north coast of British Columbia. DEO was accused of allowing commercial salmon fishers to ignore license conditions aimed at protecting steelhead trout caught as "by-catch." The license conditions at issue included:
1. How is this approach different from that taken by Austrian plaintiffs against Czechs in the Judgment case? Does the international treaty make transnational environmental protection easier?
2. Do the complainants in Skeena River Fishery have to prove financial damage as a result of Canada's alleged non-enforcement? Do the plaintiffs in the Austrian Judgment case have to prove such damages?
3. How will the Canadian government's spending priorities factor into this decision? Should the Secretariat be able to order Canada to spend money on fisheries enforcement rather than unemployment insurance? Can the Secretariat do that?