Leaders, scientists, policy analysts and legal staff of the Coast Salish Nations will gather April 26-27 to strengthen approaches, relationships and discuss potential issues of the environmental impacts of climate…
A look back on the 25 year history of tribal and state fisheries co-management is one of the featured stories in the newest NWIFC Magazine, which you can download as…
LA CONNER— Nearly every day in the spring through early fall, somewhere in the Skagit basin and San Juan Islands, a crew from the Skagit River System Cooperative (SRSC) is sampling fish populations.
Rain or shine, in smooth waters or blustery wind, the crew pulls beach seines and sets fyke traps to count and measure fish before returning them to the water. Crew members also record water temperature, salinity, depth, velocity, substrate and vegetation. As a result, SRSC, the natural resources arm of the Swinomish and Sauk-Suiattle tribes, has a 15-year (and counting) comprehensive database of the way fish use nearshore habitat.
The nearshore is a nursery to a variety of fish including sculpins, perch, smelt, herring and salmon. Puget Sound chinook salmon, listed as “threatened” by the federal Endangered Species Act, depend on estuaries for extended rearing during outmigration.
Monitoring this habitat is a crucial, yet often underfunded, aspect of the salmon recovery effort, said Eric Beamer, SRSC’s research director. Without it, nobody knows whether a restoration project did what it was supposed to do. (more…)
ALDER – Over 100 trees that have fallen into the reservoir behind Alder Dam will be put to use constructing engineered logjams to create salmon habitat on Ohop Creek.
“Trees that wash into the lake from the river and get stuck behind the dam need to be removed before they become a nuisance,” said David Troutt, natural resources manager for the Nisqually Tribe, which is spearheading the effort to gather the logs. “We’re just taking them out and putting them to good use.” Juvenile salmon find both food and shelter within logjams. The structures also slow the flow of the creek, easing adult salmon migration.
“We know logjams benefit salmon because we’ve been monitoring other restoration projects. We really see a difference in the section of river with logjams and those without,” Troutt said. “There are a lot more salmon around the logjams.”
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For years, Skagit County has been a battleground between fishermen and farmers. After a recent court victory the Swinomish Tribe is finding a way for the once warring sides to come together for the good of salmon habitat.
A few years back, the Swinomish Tribe sued Skagit County Dike District No. 22 for building tide gates without the permits they needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In September, a federal judge ruled that the district had violated both the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.
With the judge’s ruling on their side, the Swinomish Tribe took the issue out of the courtroom. Instead of forcing the district to pay federal fines, the tribe suggested that the two become partners in restoring 200 acres of estuary in the Skagit delta.
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LUMMI NATION – The Lummi Nation has entered into a partnership with Whatcom County and the Whatcom Land Trust to re-align a portion of a county road that runs past the tribe’s Skookum Creek Hatchery. This section of the road segment serves primarily as access to the hatchery and to a system of logging roads.
Moving the road off the bank of the South Fork of the Nooksack River will allow the tribe to restore habitat to its natural condition, by replanting native vegetation in the riparian area and building logjams for instream cover and complexity. The project ranked first for restoration benefit in a habitat assessment of the upper South Fork conducted by the tribe’s Natural Resources department in 2007. (more…)
Kelly Stonum at the Nisqually Valley News reports on the Nisqually winter chum run and the annual event to celebrate habitat restoration in Roy:
Chum salmon didn’t disappoint the public for their premiere appearance at Roy City Park.
Several salmon were spotted at the street crossing, within walking distance from the park during the Roy Salmon Homecoming, Saturday, Jan. 24.
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Puyallup Tribal News looks at the tribe's plans for Boise Creek: One of the most critical spawning areas for salmon in the Puyallup River Basin is about to get some…
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…)
Treaty Indian Fisheries and Salmon Recovery dispels many of the myths about tribal fishing practices and explains why habitat loss and degradation is the single most significant factor contributing to…