Lead Story
Upper Skagit Indian Tribe examines steelhead scales »
The Upper Skagit Tribe is analyzing scale samples to determine the age of steelhead returning to the Skagit River.
Unlike most species of salmon, steelhead can spawn repeatedly before they die. They mature at 2 or 3 years, and can stay at sea up to three years before returning to fresh water to spawn.
Upper Skagit tribal staff took scale samples from 75 wild steelhead to be examined using equipment at the University of Washington. Analysis of steelhead scales can tell researchers how many years a steelhead has spent in fresh water before out-migrating and how long it spent at sea. The analysis also will show whether the steelhead migrated back out to sea after spawning in fresh water.
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News
Working together to make sure shellfish stay safe to harvest »The Squaxin Island Tribe and Mason County are forming a new partnership to protect one of the most productive shellfish growing areas in the world. The new working relationship will manage an enhanced Pollution Identification and Correction (PIC) program, as part of the state’s recently announced Shellfish Initiative.
“The enhanced program will bring a new emphasis to making sure cleaned up areas stay clean,” said John …
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Hatcheries Are Necessary Tools »Salmon hatcheries are under attack by people with very short memories. They have forgotten why many hatcheries were built in the first place.
Most were built to make up for lost natural salmon production caused by habitat damage and destruction. Today, more than half of the chinook and coho we harvest are hatchery fish. That’s a direct reflection of the huge amount of natural salmon production …
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NWIFC Blog
New home for Treaty Rights at Risk »A few days ago, we’ve started publishing new content over at new home for the Treaty Rights at Risk initiative. In the new section, we’ll be publishing updates on the initiative, taking a new look at data on salmon productivity and sharing stories from tribal members.
You can also download the white paper that the tribes released last summer.
The goal of the Treaty Rights at …
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