Puyallup Tribal News:

A special fishing season for tribal elders takes place next month. From June 10 to June 13, the river will be open for elders to fish for ceremonial and subsistence use from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.

Chris Phinney, harvest management biologist for the Puyallup Tribe’s Fisheries/Hatchery Department, explained the rules in place. This special fishing season is open only to Puyallup Tribal members aged 50 and older. There will be no helpers allowed and no exceptions to the rules, he said. “They have to be tribal elders to be on the river.”

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“This year there will be plenty of fish,” Chris Phinney said. A decision was made to provide this special season for elders. “The elders deserve a crack at them first. They fought for this right,” he remarked. “It is a pretty big deal. I am excited for the elders.”

All of the fish have tags implanted in their noses. Chris Phinney said staff from the department will be on the river during the hours of fishing to collect samples.

He stressed that the fish caught are not to be sold for commercial use; they are for ceremonial and subsistence uses.