Tribes are steadfast about their treaty shellfish harvest rights. If we weren’t, our livelihoods and cultures would disappear. In Mystery Bay, off Marrowstone Island, several tribes are working hard to make sure that their shellfish harvesting rights aren’t hurt by pollution that could be prevented. The state Department of Health has been monitoring the number […]
After hearing testimony from tribal elders, biologists, historians, treaty experts, as well as testimony from private property owners and non-Indian commercial shellfish growers, Federal District Court Judge Edward Rafeedie followed in the footsteps of the Boldt Decision. He ruled the treaties’ “in common” language meant that the tribes had reserved harvest rights to half of […]
On Friday the tribes and commercial shellfish growers agreed to a historic agreement, settling more than a century of controversy. KOMO: Tribes, growers celebrate Puget Sound shellfish settlement Seattle Times: Shellfish settlement ends years of rancor The Olympian: Tribes’ accord puts aside years of tension over shellfish harvests Kitsap Sun: Shellfish Settlement Fails to Resolve […]
Bill Taylor and Billy Frank had a oped piece in the Seattle PI this morning on the shellfish settlement: Puget Sound shellfish growers and 17 Indian tribes have reached a fair solution to a thorny treaty rights issue. The agreement rights a historical wrong, preserves the health of the shellfish industry, recognizes the importance of […]
OLYMPIA (May 18, 2007) – Puget Sound treaty Indian tribes and commercial shellfish growers have finalized an agreement that will protect and enhance the resource while resolving legal issues from a federal court ruling that re-affirmed treaty-reserved tribal shellfish harvest rights. The pact resolves lingering legal issues from a 1994 federal court ruling that upheld […]
