An algae bloom that has exploded since its beginnings earlier this year when it caused domoic acid levels to spike in razor clams, has closed Dungeness crab harvest for Quinault Indian Nation and the Quileute Tribe and non-tribal fishermen this week on the Washington Coast. Like the razor clam season, fishermen are likely to be […]
NWIFC Chair and Swinomish fisheries director Lorraine Loomis is featured in a Washington Post article about the effects of the drought on salmon and tribal culture: As a drought tightens its grip on the Pacific Northwest, burning away mountain snow and warming rivers, state officials and Native American tribes are becoming increasingly worried that one […]
The Herald has a long story featuring the Stillaguamish Tribe’s natural resources department, describing the challenges salmon face on the Stillaguamish River. The Stillaguamish is home to three species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act: Chinook salmon, steelhead trout and bull trout. In recent years, however, the river suffered two blows that have […]
Upper Skagit Baker Sockeye Fishery from NW Indian Fisheries Commission on Vimeo. The Baker River sockeye fishery is especially important to Upper Skagit tribal fishermen. It’s one of the few opportunities the tribe has to exercise treaty fishing rights at the site of an ancestral village. With declining salmon populations caused by disappearing habitat, increasing […]
The Nisqually Indian Tribe regularly samples juvenile salmon as they head out to the open ocean. This is how they get a better understanding of how salmon habitat helps salmon grow and survive. Watch as tribal researchers deploy a beach seine to sample some salmon in Puget Sound: Watch the Nisqually Tribe sample juvenile salmon […]
Tightline Adventure, a Native-owned and operated non-profit, is making a series of videos about tribal hatchery facilities. Click to watch a video, shot at the Tulalip Hatchery, featuring the NWIFC automatic tagging trailer that marks millions of juvenile salmon by clipping the adipose fin and inserting coded-wire tags in their snouts before release. Fin-clipping makes […]
Lummi Nation water resources technician Lisa Cook produced a pair of videos about the tribe’s youth outreach progam, which is teaching Lummi schoolchildren about the importance of salmon and other natural resources to their culture. Read related article: Lummi Nation Raises Next Generation of Stewards
From the Seattle Times: Washington state is under a federal court order to fix hundreds of barriers built under state roads and highways that block access for migrating salmon and thus interfere with Washington tribes’ treaty-backed right to catch fish. But it’s not clear how the state is going to come up with the estimated […]
Two local news stations featured tribal concerns in their reports about record-setting temperatures and low water flows. KIRO 7 interviewed Jason Griffith, Stillaguamish fisheries biologist. KING 5 spoke to Doreen Maloney, the Upper Skagit Tribe’s executive director of Economic Development & Treaty Entitlements.
From the Seattle Times this morning: Three conservation groups on Wednesday petitioned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to change how it regulates seawalls, bulkheads or other barriers to increase habitat protections along Puget Sound shorelines. Such concrete or rock structures prevent erosion and protect waterfront homes, but they also alter beaches and disrupt habitat […]
