Cooperative natural resources co-management at its best was displayed during this year's North of Falcon process for setting Indian and non-Indian salmon fishing seasons in western Washington. The results were…
Sharp cuts in fishing by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians this year will allow sport fishermen to start fishing for chinook on the Puyallup River two weeks early. "The tribe is going to be off the water more this year to reduce impacts on returning chinook, and this gave more opportunity for sport fishermen," said Chris Phinney, the tribe's salmon fisheries management biologist. The cuts by the tribe were agreed to last spring during the tribal and state salmon fisheries management process.
It was a meeting long overdue. Representatives of the 20 treaty Indian tribes in western Washington sat down for the first time in a public meeting with the entire Washington…
This year’s North of Falcon salmon management process, for the coast and Puget Sound, was tougher than it’s ever been. North of Falcon is the key part of annual planning that brings state and tribal co-managers together with input from stakeholders to set fishing regulations north of the Oregon Coast cape of the same name. As in years past, it was a give-and-take process of shaping fisheries to fit under the “impact lid” that helps us protect weak wild salmon stocks while, to the extent possible, harvesting abundant hatchery salmon. We are especially concerned about protecting Puget Sound chinook listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.