Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

NEAH BAY — The 18 fishers reintroduced into Olympic National Park (ONP) earlier this year by wildlife biologists were expected to do some roaming. But few expected one of the weasel-like animals to journey nearly 60 miles from its Elwha River watershed release site to the Makah Tribe’s reservation in Neah Bay. Crossing mountains, rivers and busy roads, the fisher reached the Makah Reservation over a …

HOH RIVER — The Hoh Tribe is conducting a study to determine the genetic relationships between today’s Hoh River native steelhead and hatchery steelhead. The genetic study will reveal the extent to which a hatchery run of steelhead that shares the river has affected the genetic structure of the native steelhead

Determining the genetic origin of steelhead that stray into the Hoh from other rivers and …

NISQUALLY – Good harvest management by tribal and state salmon co-managers has led to more chinook reaching the spawning grounds on the Nisqually River this year despite fewer returning chinook.

“Overall fewer chinook returned Puget Sound-wide, but because we managed our fisheries the right way, we were able to reach our escapement goal,” said David Troutt, natural resources director for the Nisqually Tribe. Escapement is the …

SEDRO-WOOLLEY (Dec. 1, 2008) – The Upper Skagit Indian Tribe built a new roof for its hatchery, to protect fish and children from the elements.

The 20-year-old hatchery used to have a roof that didn’t completely cover two circular tanks that hold adult chum salmon before spawning. The tanks also are the centerpiece of the tribe’s Kids Fishing Days each spring, when they are stocked with …

BLYN – Consider it a “how-to” guide for the next great habitat restoration project.

It’s been two years since the Jimmycomelately Creek restoration project was completed. But the work didn’t end then – the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe recently released a 72-page report explaining how the 10-year, $7 million project was started, the challenges it faced and what it took to complete it. And more importantly, it …

ARLINGTON (Nov. 25, 2008) – Face down in frigid water, Stillaguamish biologist Jody Brown arranged plastic buckets of gravel in the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River.

The 2-quart buckets are artificial salmon nests, or redds, which the tribe is using to study the fine sediment that accumulates in the gravel where salmon spawn.

LOWER ELWHA (November 19, 2008) – The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s habitat restoration crew is midway through its effort to build 50 engineered logjams on the Elwha River before two fish-blocking dams start coming down in 2012.

For the five-man crew, building 18-foot-tall structures out of 50-foot logs and thousands of pounds of gravel is just another day at the “office” – an office that spans …

Are rockfish stocks off the coast of Washington state in the same condition as rockfish population hundreds of miles away in California? Probably not, but the way we manage them now, we’re assuming that the two diverse stocks are identical.

PUYALLUP (November 6, 2008) – The Puyallup Tribe’s Clark Creek salmon hatchery has reached its goal of collecting 1.1 million chinook eggs for the first time since it opened four years ago.

“We’ll be running at full capacity this winter and spring,” said Blake Smith, enhancement biologist for the Puyallup Tribe. As in most hatcheries, more than 90 percent of the eggs will survive to be …

EATONVILLE (October 27, 2008) – The Nisqually Indian Tribe is helping a local landowner reclaim a stretch of Tanwax Creek for salmon.

Tribal technicians, volunteers and school groups are clearing a five-acre infestation of reed canary grass along the creek, allowing coho salmon to access important habitat on James Tucker’s property. The volunteers and school groups are organized by the tribe’s Stream Stewards program, the Nisqually …