Tribal Members

PBS: Salmon Streams’ Struggle Continues 40 Years After Clean Water Act

PBS recently featured a report on tribal efforts to restore salmon. The report was based on work done during the filming of “Poisoned Waters.”

From the Jim Leher News Hour:

JIM LEHRER: Next tonight, America’s waterways nearly four decades after passage of the Clean Water Act.

Our story comes from special correspondent Hedrick Smith. It was drawn from his recent “Frontline” project called “Poisoned Waters.” He reports from the Pacific Northwest, where salmon streams are endangered by manmade problems.

HEDRICK SMITH, Special Correspondent: I saw the impact of the human footprint up close here in the Skagit River delta, about 80 miles north of Seattle.

BRIAN CLADOOSBY, chairman, Swinomish tribe: We can fish from here way up the Skagit, but we just choose to fish in this location because it’s a nice, long drift.
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Hoh Solution Good For Tribe, River, Fish

The Hoh Tribe and the Hoh River are connected by a bond that can never be broken. Forever, as the river moved, so did the tribe.

But that came to a stop after treaty times, when the tribe was confined to a 640-acre reservation at the river’s mouth. Over the years the Hoh River has whittled the reservation to about 450 acres and much of the land floods every year.

A study of the river’s migrating main channel shows the Hoh is likely to again come barreling through the tribal center and many homes within the next 25 years. Flooding has already become an annual event in these low-lying areas.

The Hoh Tribe had a choice. Build expensive dikes or other structures – which can protect the riverbank but hurt fish habitat – or move out of harm’s way.
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Coastal Tribes Help Protect Public Health

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jonnette-in-the-waves-for-web3Protecting the health of Quinault Indian Nation (QIN) tribal members and others is the main priority of harmful algal bloom specialist Jonnette Bastian-James.

Like other coastal tribes, QIN is helping to determine when harmful algal blooms (HABs) occur on the coast and how quickly they affect shellfish eaten regularly by Indian and non-Indian harvesters throughout the region.

James, a QIN tribal member, takes seawater samples year-round on five beaches from Ocean Shores north to Kalaloch where razor clams are harvested. Beginning in the spring, when levels of toxins harmful to humans can begin to rise, she increases sampling to twice a week at the beaches.
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Shellfish

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Shellfish have been a mainstay of Western Washington Indian tribes for thousands of years. Clams, crab, oysters, shrimp, and many other species were readily available for harvest year-round. The rapid…

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About Us

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The Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) is a natural resources management support service organization for 20 treaty Indian tribes in western Washington. Headquartered in Olympia, the NWIFC employs approximately 80…

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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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