Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

DUNGENESS (Dec. 27, 2004) – In the 1800s, the lower reach of the Dungeness River flowed through a 100-acre floodplain before emptying into Dungeness Bay. The river was connected to a large estuary that provided essential spawning and rearing habitat for salmon.

Nowadays, the floodplain is the site of several homes and agricultural land. Dikes – built in the 1960s – on both sides of the …

PORT ANGELES (December 7, 2004) – The Salt Creek Watershed has about 50 miles of fish habitat, but half of it is inaccessible to salmon and trout, according to a recently completed assessment of the area.

The study, developed by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the North Olympic Salmon Coalition, will be presented at a public meeting on Dec. 13 from 7 p.m. to 9 …

ORTING (December 6, 2004) – More bald eagles are calling the Puyallup River watershed home, and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians wants more to come south every year. “It seems that there are more bald eagles using the Puyallup as a winter home than the last time surveys were done regularly,” said Barbara Moeller, wildlife biologist with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians.

Last winter Moeller conducted …

CLALLAM BAY (December 1, 2004) – It’s not often that removing a road will provide better access, but for fish it does just that.

Salmon and trout in the Clallam River now have more access to spawning and rearing habitat after an old logging road along the river was partially removed and closed in August. The joint project between the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the …

SHELTON (November 29, 2004) – Spring Creek is about as small a stream as a salmon could possibly swim up, but Doyle Foster counts 150 fish in just a one-mile stretch.

“There are a lot of stinky fish out today,” said Foster, a spawning surveyor for the Squaxin Island Tribe. The data Foster collects will help the tribe decide whether to open fisheries on the healthy …

HOODSPORT (Nov. 19, 2004) – A joint project between the Skokomish Tribe and a Bellingham fish processor is helping protect marine life by keeping hatchery chum salmon carcasses out of oxygen-starved Hood Canal during tribal salmon fisheries this fall.

“The tribe wants to do what it can to help Hood Canal,” said Dave Herrera, fisheries director for the Skokomish Tribe. “By taking as many chum salmon …

TAHOLAH (November. 9, 2004) – A five-year cooperative by the Quinault Indian Nation (QIN) and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will improve estimates of natural razor clam mortality and may lead to higher harvest limits.

Razor clams play a small, but important role in the QIN economy. The Nation is the only Washington tribe that has a commercial razor clam enterprise. Culturally, razor clams …

FORKS (November 1, 2004) – Something is missing from the middle and west forks of the Dickey River. Noise.

Absent is the musical sound of water moving over logs and rocks. The removal of most of the wood in the rivers over the years and little elevation change in the Dickey system leaves the river oddly quiet and lake-like except during seasonal rains.

The Quileute Tribe, …

(October 20, 2004) – When creeks across Mason County flooded last winter, there was little information available to the public about how bad the floods really were. The Squaxin Island Tribe recently installed a new stream gauge on Goldsborough Creek that provides real-time data is helping the tribe and others better understand and react to changes on Goldsborough and other creeks.

“Seeing how much water …

November 1, 2004

We need good, strong laws to protect salmon.

King, Pierce and other counties surrounding Puget Sound are strengthening habitat protection rules by updating their Critical Area Ordinances. These rules are required under the Growth Management Act. They protect water quality, prevent flood damage and make sure new development doesn’t harm salmon.

Making these rules stronger is a great idea. They will prevent trees …