Fisheries

Despite low chinook run, co-managers boost escapement

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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 number of salmon that are allowed to reach the spawning grounds.

Nisqually River chinook are part of a larger Puget Sound population of chinook that are listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act. (more…)

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Puyallup Tribal News: Elders to fish first

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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Don’t let fishing be the scapegoat

Fishing opportunities in Northwest waters have just about disappeared. It’s a situation that has strained relations between Indians and non-Indians – the state, local governments, environmental organizations, businesses and even fishermen. It’s also a condition we can improve, if we follow the truth, and that truth goes right to habitat. Fishermen have made the lion’s share of sacrifice so far, and cutting back on fisheries to the degree we have has not been easy on our people. Empty freezers and smoke houses hurt deeply, physically, economically and culturally.

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USGS mapping Skagit Bay, Deception Pass

The Skagit Valley Herald (subscription required) had an article Sunday about a USGS project to map the ocean floor of Skagit Bay and Deception Pass to show how the seabed looks today and how it looked 150 years ago.

For the scientists with the Skagit River System Cooperative, an agency of the Sauk-Suiattle and Swinomish Indian tribes that works to improve the fisheries in the river basin, the maps of before and after may help them prove a theory.

Confining the river to two channels causes silt-laden fresh water to squirt like a “fire hose” into the Skagit Bay, said Greg Hood, senior restoration ecologist for the tribal cooperative.

(more…)

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