The Pacific Salmon Commission was set up in 1985 to serve as a forum for cooperation between the United States and Canada in the establishment of conservation and management regimes for North Pacific salmon stocks. The Pacific Salmon Treaty was designed to enable the two Parties to prevent overfishing and provide for optimum production and to allow each Party to receive benefits equivalent to the production of salmon originating in its waters. However, the United States and Canada have not been able to agree fully on long-term, coast-wide salmon fishing management regimes since 1992. Over the past five years, the two countries have engaged in a series attempts to resolve their differences, including negotiations in 1994, a formal mediation effort in 1995-1996, and Pacific salmon stakeholder talks in 1997. Unfortunately, all of these efforts have failed because of differing philosophical and technical approaches to equity and salmon conservation issues.