The Case of the unwanted salmon: Canada, Australia and Fresh Pacific Salmon

The paper discusses aspects of the case of Canada v Australia (the Salmon case) AB-1998 – 5 (1998) WTO. The facts of the case and the parameters of the Panel’s jurisdiction are considered. The ‘reciprocity’ and ‘mutual advantage’ principles established in GATT 1947, continuing in GATT 1994 and in the World Trade Organization are viewed in the general light of aspects of the commonly known current environmental global crisis: diminishing water supplies, decreasing supplies of natural food sources, increasing temperatures and increasing human population growth. The need to protect a wild fish species in the ocean (mariculture) and a cultivated fish species in fish farms (aquaculture) is considered in the light of the global trade environment. The paper posits that transactions in mariculture and aquaculture products need to firstly address their potential impact on the physical global environment, rather than the fiscal global environment. Thus it is asserted that the evidentiary rules under which the tribunal traditionally operates are too restrictive for the demands of present day globalisation. The paper proffers a possible remedy; the trade dispute resolution regime needs to be reconsidered in order to take account of 21st century global environmental realities.