Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

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 …

From the Tacoma News Tribune on Sunday:

State government assumes, when deciding how clean Washington waters should be, that people eat up to a half-pound of local seafood per month.

But it’s not unusual for Jim Peters, a member of the Squaxin Island Tribal Council, to dine with his family three times a week on locally caught salmon, halibut, clams or shrimp – not to

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The latest dramatic changes in the Elwha River include the highly anticipated sediment plume forming at the river mouth.

The Seattle Times’ Lynda Mapes has been blogging about the sediment recently, including posting aerial photos of the river mouth.  Her post explores how the sediment will help rebuild the beaches near the river mouth and compares the beach ecology near the Elwha River with the …

The North Kitsap Herald posted a story about Washington Governor Chris Gregoire recently signing a supplemental captial budget that includes money to purchase shorelines along Port Gamble Bay. However, the land won’t be purchased until a clean up agreement for the old mill associated with the historic town of Port Gamble is settled, which is expected to be done this year.

Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe chairman …

The KCTS and Eartfix documentary “Undamming the Elwha” is now viewable online. You can watch it here or in the window below:

Undamming the Elwha, the documentary from EarthFix on Vimeo.

The South Sound Business Examiner recently published an article about NOAA and Washington State’s shellfish initiative, including exploring the tribal culture and economy of shellfish harvesting.

From the story:

“Shellfish have always been an important part of tribal culture here in western Washington and this initiative will help protect and restore shellfish by increasing accountability for activities that pollute beds and threaten our treaty rights,” said

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Lance Dickie of the Seattle Times included a reference to Treaty Rights at Risk in his column this morning:

Frank sees treaty-reserved rights to harvest salmon disappearing along with diminishing salmon populations due to a loss of habitat. No one is in charge of salmon recovery, in Frank’s blunt assessment.

Twenty tribes organized a Treaty Rights at Risk campaign last August. They see unabated pollution

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Joe Peters posted a couple of updates on the Squaxin Island Tribe’s natural resources blog yesterday on two yearly spring activities, smolt trap and net pens.

First, smolt trapping:

Outmigrating coho salmon smolts will be captured, enumerated and lengths measured. Other species such as chum fry, cutthroat, rainbow trout, and sculpin are also seen in the trap.

And, net pens:

Each month Squaxin NR

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Earthjustice posted a column that explains the Swinomish Tribe’s appeal of the state Department of Ecology’s actions in the Skagit River water rights dispute:

Washington state’s Swinomish tribe faces a water rights battle in the Skagit River basin, the likes of which we have seen before. It’s reminiscent of the dispute that broke out around a decade ago in the Klamath River basin in California and

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The Skokomish Tribe and Mason Conservation District collaborated on a project to install more than 200 pieces of large woody debris (logs and rootwads) into channels within the Skokomish Tidelands. This video explains why and how massive logs are being transported into the tidelands. The story behind this project can be found here.