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Being FrankA New Look At HatcheriesBy Billy Frank Jr.NWIFC ChairmanThis is a time of great change inthe management of the salmon resourcein the State of Washington.Listings of several local salmonstocks under the Endangered SpeciesAct have required us to re-examinemany of our approaches tothe way we manage salmon.Our use of hatcheries is one example.Today the tribes, as well asstate and federal agencies, are looking at salmon hatcheriesin new ways.Once viewed by many simply as “factories” for producingsalmon, now we are reforming hatchery practices tohelp recover and conserve wild salmon populations whileproviding sustainable fisheries for Indian and non-Indianfishermen.While the tribes have made efforts over the past decadeto reduce impacts of hatcheries on wild salmon stocks –such as carefully timing releases of young hatchery salmoninto rivers to avoid competition for food and habitat withyoung wild salmon – a lack of funding has prevented thetribes from applying a comprehensive, systematic approachto hatchery reform.Now, thanks to the efforts of Washington’s congressionaldelegation, the treaty tribes, Washington Department ofWildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National MarineFisheries Service will share $3.6 million this year toconduct much-needed research, monitoring and evaluationof hatchery practices at the approximately 150 tribal, stateand federal hatchery facilities in western Washington.Federal legislation has created an independent HatcheryScientific Review Group to provide scientific oversight fortribal, state and federal hatchery practices reform and toprovide recommendations for implementation of scientificgoals and strategies. A top priority of the tribal and stateco-managers under the hatchery reform initiative will be tocomplete Hatchery Genetic Management Plans for eachspecies at each hatchery on Puget Sound. The plans willprovide a picture of how stocks and hatcheries should bemanaged, and will serve as a tool for implementing hatcheryreform.Already, some salmon enhancement facilities have beenswitched from producing hatchery fish to restoring wildfish through broodstocking and supplementation. Throughthese programs, wild salmon are captured and spawned ata hatchery. Their offspring are then reared in the facility(Continued, Next Page)On The Cover: A mass of sea cucumbers harvested by a Nooksack tribal fisherman await processing. Sea cucumbers, adelicacy in parts of Asia, are related to sea urchins and sand dollars. See story on Page 4. Photo L. Harris2Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission NewsThe NWIFC News is published quarterly on behalf of the treaty Indian tribes in western Washington by the Northwest IndianFisheries Commission, 6730 Martin Way E., Olympia, WA 98516. Complimentary subscriptions are available. Articles inNWIFC News may be reprinted. An electronic version of this newsletter is available at www.nwifc.wa.gov.Jamestown S’Klallam .... 360-683-1109Lower Elwha Klallam .... 360-452-8471Lummi ............................ 360-384-2210Makah ............................. 360-645-2205Muckleshoot ................... 253-939-3311Nisqually ........................ 360-456-5221NWIFC Member TribesNooksack........................ 360-592-5176Port Gamble S’Klallam .. 360-297-2646Puyallup ......................... 253-597-6200Quileute .......................... 360-374-6163Quinault .......................... 360-276-8211Sauk-Suiattle .................. 360-436-0132Skokomish ..................... 360-426-4232Squaxin Island ............... 360-426-9781Stillaguamish .................. 360-652-7362Suquamish ...................... 360-598-3311Swinomish ...................... 360-466-3163Tulalip ............................. 360-651-4000Upper Skagit .................. 360-856-5501NWIFC Executive Director: Jim Anderson; NWIFC News Staff: Tony Meyer, Manager, Information Services Divisionand South Puget Sound Information Officer (IO); Logan Harris, Strait/Hood Canal IO; Jeff Shaw, North Sound IO;Debbie Preston, Coastal IO; and Sheila McCloud, Editorial Assistant. For more information please contact: NWIFCInformation Services at (360) 438-1180 in Olympia; (360) 424-8226 in Mount Vernon; (360) 297-6546 in Kingston;or (360) 374-5501 in Forks.
PassagesJoe DeLaCruzJoe DeLaCruz died April 16 at the age of 62. Amongmany other distinctions, he had been President of theQuinault Indian Nation, the National Congress of AmericanIndians, the National Tribal Chairmen’s Associationand the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians. He mademonumental contributions to tribal education, health care,economic development, natural resource managementand self- governance."He was one of the greatest Indian leaders who ever Joe DeLaCruzlived in the United States," said Billy Frank, Jr. chairmanof the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.DeLaCruz served the tribes faithfully for more than three decades, amassingvast experience as a leader in natural resource management, health care,education, economic diversity, governance and tribal culture. He was a staunchsupporter of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, a founding memberof the Northwest Renewable Resources Center, co-chair of the Commissionon State-Tribal Relations, one of the creators of the Pacific SalmonCommission and member of the Washington State Historical Society.The Centennial Accord, signed by Governor Booth Gardner and tribalchairs from throughout Washington in the state’s centennial year of 1989,was Joe DeLaCruz’s idea – an idea that has since captured the imaginationof indigenous people and governments throughout the world. The TribalSelf-Governance Program, which he also helped originate, likewise convertedthe principles of tribal sovereignty and government-to-governmentrelations into reality. These, and many other DeLaCruz achievements in thearena of tribal self-determination, were the manifestation of beliefs which heexpressed as follows:"No right is more sacred to a nation, to a people, than the right to freelydetermine its social, economic, political and cultural future without externalinterference. The fullest expression of this right occurs when a nation freelygoverns itself. We call the exercise of this right self-determination. The practiceof this right is self-government."More than 2,000 people – tribal officials from near and far, elected representatives,friends, neighbors and family members – commemorated the lifeof "Skinny Joe" DeLaCruz at services conducted April 22 at the new QuinaultTribal Resort in Ocean Shores."Joe DeLaCruz will always be a part of Washington state, just as this landwas always a part of him," said Governor Gary Locke.Younger brother Franklin DeLaCruz placed a wooden staff in the casket,adorned with carvings of a two-headed wolf, the DeLaCruz family crest, aswell as a bear, an eagle, an orca and a spawning salmon, signifying the circleof life. "He needs to go to the other side with something like this powerfulstaff," he said.DeLaCruz was buried on the Colville Reservation April 24 – an agreementbetween he and his wife, Dorothy, a Colville tribal member. Other survivorsinclude three daughters, two sons, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.– S. RobinsonBeing FrankContinued From Page 2and later released in various locationswithin the watershed to increase theirchances for survival.Hatchery reform is part of an integratedstrategy for salmon recovery.The tribal and state co-managers areresponding to declining wild salmonpopulations through improved planningprocesses like Comprehensive Cohoand Comprehensive Puget Sound Chinook,which seek to protect and restoreadequate freshwater habitat and to ensurethat enough adult salmon reach thespawning grounds to recover the stocks.As part of the effort, recovery goals andcomprehensive recovery plans are beingdeveloped for all salmon species inwestern Washington. Specific recoveryplans are being developed for each watershedto guide how harvest, habitatand hatcheries will be managed.The treaty Indian tribes in westernWashington already have made significantharvest reductions to protect weakwild stocks. In fact, over the past 25years, treaty tribal salmon harvests havebeen reduced by more than 90 percent.This has come at a great cost to thespiritual, cultural and economic wellbeingof the tribes.For 2000, the tribes are planning conservativefisheries that are more restrictivethan last year to protect weak wildsalmon stocks. While recognizing thereare some strong hatchery chinook returnsexpected, tribal fisheries will bedesigned to contribute to the rebuildingof Puget Sound chinook, which havebeen listed as threatened under the EndangeredSpecies Act.All of these steps will have little effect,however, if there are no similarefforts to protect salmon habitat. Lostand damaged salmon habitat has been,and continues to be, the main reasonfor the decline of wild salmon.We are confident, however, that byworking together we can achieve ourgoal of returning wild salmon stocks toabundance.(See Related Story On Page 5)3
Page 1: Northwest Indian Fisheries Commissi
Page 5 and 6: Lummis Honor First SalmonNot only d
Page 7 and 8: Upper left: Bill Monette, left, and
Page 9 and 10: In Dungeness River WatershedJamesto
Page 11 and 12: On Sol Duc RiverCooperative Project

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