PORT ANGELES — The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Olympic National Park (ONP), and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced that a tribal ceremonial and subsistence fishery for coho salmon on the Elwha River will be open for a limited time during fall 2024. Additionally, the tribe, ONP and WDFW have agreed to extend the closure of other recreational and commercial fisheries in the Elwha River until June 2025. Recreational and commercial fishing will resume when there is broad distribution of spawning adults above the former dam sites, spawning rates allow for population grow ..read more

While the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe knows from recent studies that only half of out-migrating juvenile fish are getting past the Hood Canal Bridge, the next question is—what about returning adults? That led staff from the tribe, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Long Live the Kings to beach seine and tag adult chinook salmon near the bridge last summer. The goal was to get acoustic tags on 30 chinook in 2023 as they made their way back to their natal streams, but the team ended up tagging only 15. Left to right, Port Gamble S’Klallam senior research scientist Hans Da ..read more

Marking the 50th anniversary of Judge George Boldt’s Feb. 12, 1974, ruling in U.S. v. Washington, hundreds of members of treaty tribes gathered at the Muckleshoot Events Center to reflect on the times that preceded that pivotal moment in court and the decades since.  Over two days, speakers including Fish Wars veterans from multiple tribes, attorneys who worked in various capacities on the case, and some of Boldt’s descendants discussed the turmoil that led to the famous treaty rights lawsuit and the ways it has changed fisheries management.  Several speakers recalled tribal fisherme ..read more

February 2024 marked the 50th anniversary of the Boldt decision in U.S. v Washington, a federal case that changed the way natural resources are managed in Washington state. Here’s what you need to know about the decision. The post Boldt Decision Explained appeared first on Northwest Treaty Tribes ..read more

The Makah Tribe is making it easier for a Neah Bay-based response vessel to help distressed or disabled boats in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the entrance to Neah Bay was dredged this winter to deepen and widen the bay’s channel, allowing for the state Department of Ecology’s emergency response towing vessel (ERTV) to more easily respond, said Carol Reamer, director of the Port of Neah Bay. Prior to dredging, the ERTV, which is moored in the Makah Marina, had to anchor outside the bay during extreme low tides, as the channel was too shallow ..read more

People around the world rely heavily on fish as a nutritional resource and economic commodity. Fisheries scientists, policymakers and other key players in these food systems gathered in Seattle in early March to discuss the latest research, trends and challenges for the world’s fisheries at the ninth annual World Fisheries Congress. With a roster of 1,600 registrants from 81 counties, the gathering offered a prime stage for NWIFC Chairman Ed Johnstone and Suquamish Chairman Leonard Forsman to provide perspective on fisheries issues from the region’s treaty tribes. Both were plenary speakers at ..read more

Jamestown S’Klallam geoduck divers Jeremy and Jason Holden didn’t realize how significant their new seafood business would be to their tribe and the North Olympic Peninsula until it opened in late 2023. The owners of Moby Duck Chowder and Seafood initially wanted to open a food truck to sell geoduck chowder made from the clams they harvested with their dive boat, The Moby Duck. The native clam isn’t often sold locally, as it is regularly shipped overseas to Asia where it is in high demand. “We’d get a lot of questions, like ‘Where do we get geoduck?’” Jason said. “So finally, it just clicked ..read more

Being Frank is a column by Chairman Ed Johnstone of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. As a statement from the NWIFC chairman, the column represents the natural resources management concerns of the treaty tribes in western Washington. Billy Frank Jr. walked on almost 10 years ago, but one of his most powerful lessons lives on—If we want to recover salmon, we must work together. All of us. The Billy Frank Jr. Salmon Coalition embodies this. It was formed after the former NWIFC chairman’s passing by a group of leaders from all sides of the salmon recovery effort because nobody wants to i ..read more

As 100,000 silvery coho yearlings were delivered to the newly rebuilt Cowskull acclimation pond last month in a blast of water from a hose, the Puyallup River was so near you could hear its burble. Tribal and WDFW staff loaded yearling coho into a new Puyallup Fisheries truck equipped with tanks designed to keep the salmon healthy. The fish were raised in partnership with the state at Voight Creek Hatchery.  Later this spring, the salmon will be released into the river for the next stage of their journey to the ocean. The facility update is the result of a co-management partnership the Pu ..read more

Tribes who want to see the North Cascades elk population coexist safely with human communities in the Skagit Valley are developing a wildlife overpass project to help the animals cross Highway 20 near Red Cabin Creek.  The overpass could reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions on the busy two-lane highway while improving habitat connectivity for elk and other species.  “As land stewards, this is a continuation of what we’ve always done,” said Scott Schuyler of the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, which historically had a village near the project site.  The Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians re ..read more