Harvest

Cooperation in Salmon Management

Salmon are a vital, culturally and economically important species to Tribal Nations of the Puget Sound region and beyond. Treaties signed in the 1850s reserved Tribes’ “right of taking fish from all usual and accustomed grounds and stations…in common with all citizens.” The 1974 Supreme Court ruling, known as the Boldt Decision, re-affirmed the Tribes’ treaty reserved fishing rights. Today, the Tribes and Washington State co-manage salmon recovery and habitat protection.

The State of Washington and seventeen federally recognized Treaty Tribes co-manage salmon and steelhead in the Puget Sound area. As co-managers, the State and the Tribes work to protect weak stocks of salmon and allow fishing of healthier stocks without jeopardizing recovery efforts.

Tribal Nations lead, maintain, and participate in forums and actions critical to salmon recovery. The region works with Tribes to restore and protect salmon habitat by advocating for funding, influencing policy, removing barriers, and supporting science to increase the abundance of salmon and steelhead so that Tribes can continue to practice their ways of life into the future. It is important to assist the facilitation of sharing of harvest and hatchery information (data, goals, status) with salmon habitat partners to ensure that information is easily accessible when needed and to support improved integration.