Wild Salmon And Tribal Fish Destruction
Though many tribes consider salmon sacred to their culture, one of their practices--hatchery production of fish harms wild salmon
Hatcheries are death on wild salmon. Photo George Wuerthner
The Indian Iron Curtain surrounds wild salmon and tribal policy and fishery
management. Nearly every tribe in the Pacific Northwest says things like “salmon are
sacred,” and they typically assert that salmon are critical to their culture.
The problem is that while there is some overlap between saving salmon for cultural
practices, it’s not the same as saving wild salmon for their own value. The controversy
over tribal salmon issues is more of an anthropogenic concern. It’s all about “me”–what
can the tribe garner in more salmon (not necessarily wild salmon)– instead of what is
good for wild salmon. An example is the Lummi tribe that is increasing salmon numbers
so tribal members can catch more fish. Yes the Lummi advocate better habitat
protection and other measures, but ulimately this can also be interpreted as providing
more salmon to the tribe.
One of the most blatant examples of the conflict between rhetoric and behavior can be
seen in the issue of hatcheries and their impact on wild fish.
Despite much rhetoric from tribes that they are “salmon people” and other assertions
that salmon are “sacred” and critical to their culture, most tribes support hatchery
production of salmon and steelhead and condemn any attempt to close hatcheries.
Yet the science is overwhelming—nothing is worse for wild salmon than hatchery
fish. Hatchery fish breed with wild salmon, diluting the wild genome and competing for
space, food, and even spawning habitat.
After fish stocking was halted on Oregon’s Metolius River, production of wild fish
increased.
Hatchery production can disguise the decline in natural fish production (wild fish) and
reduce the public outcry for more scientific salmon policies.
There are plenty of state and federal hatcheries, so the constructoin and production of
hatchery fish is not unique to tribes. But most of these entities do not claim that salmon
are “sacred” or critical to cultural values.
The other way that many tribes harm wild salmon is by gill netting. Due to “tribal
sovereignty and treaty rights,” tribes can gill net fish on major rivers like the Columbia,
Klamath, and others. Gill nets are entirely indiscriminate. Many wild fish are captured in
the nets and die.
Most tribes say they want to restore “healthy salmon populations,” but this doesn’t
necessarily mean healthy wild fishpopulations.
A dam on the Columbia River, one of the many factors leading to salmon decline. Photo
George Wuerthner
While there are numerous reasons for salmon declines, including dams, livestock
grazing, logging, and climate change, the promotion of hatchery production and the gill
netting of wild salmon contribute to the loss of wild salmon populations.
Logging as seen here on the Quinault Indian Reservation on Olympic Peninsula is one
of the other threats to wild salmon. Photo George Wuerthner
Most media have little understanding of salmon ecology and issues. If tribes promote
hatcheries, the media usually reports it as a favorable policy.
Why would tribes who say they love salmon continue practices harming wild salmon?
Again, follow the money. Tribes are permitted to sell fish they catch.
The pursuit of salmon restoration also gives tribal people more power and control over
natural resources–which in many instances is favorable towards salmon recovery.
However, as with the issue of hatchery production, tribal interests are not necessarily
the same as the public interest or the interest of wildlife.
COLUMBIA RIVER-SNAKE RIVER DAMS
For decades, salmon activists have sought to remove four dams on the Snake River (a
tributary of the Columbia) to open up spawning habitat in Idaho, including on the
namesake Salmon River.
The Snake River in Hells Canyon. Photo George Wuerthner
Recently, the Columbia River tribes, including the Yakima, Nez Perce, Umatilla, and
Warm Springs, agreed to accept a billion dollars from the federal government if they
would rescind their lawsuit that advocates the removal of the Snake River Dams.
Among other things, the money will be used by the tribes to improve hatchery
production. Nothing in the agreement ensures the dams will be removed, and in the
opinion of friends who have worked on salmon recovery for decades, this appears to be
a buyout of tribal interests.
I have not been following the Snake River dams issue closely, but one friend who is a
fishery biologist and has been a wild salmon advocate for decades and supports
breaching the dams had this to say about the recent agreement.
“You should look into the latest announcement from the Biden administration about the
Snake River dams. It has received a lot of press lately as a positive step but it’s mostly
BS as far as I can tell. There is NO commitment to breaching the dams, only to spend a
lot more on studying the issue and hundreds of millions on hatcheries. A previous
agreement in Sept. already gave hundreds of millions to Columbia River tribes to build
hatcheries. As you would expect, the tribes are vocal in their support of all of this.”
Another salmon advocate had this to say about the Biden and tribe agreement: “The
Biden Administration totally screwed up. Instead of using executive authority to breach
the dams they punted the issue to Congress. Congress will never authorize the
breaching, certainly not in time to save the fish and orcas. The Tribes got bought off, as
did many of the NGOs.”
ELWHA DAM REMOVAL
The Elwha River after dam removal. Photo George Wuerthner
When the federal government removed two dams from the Elwha River in Olympic NP,
the National Park Service advocated for natural salmon recovery. The NPS felt there
was still enough wild salmon stock in the lower river to ensure wild fish recovery beyond
the broached dams. However, the Elwha tribe opposed this part of the plan and insisted
on building a hatchery at the mouth of the river (with taxpayer money, of course).
KLAMATH RIVER DAMS AND TRIBES
Rafters on the Klamath River, California. Photo George Wuerthner
There has been an effort to remove four dams on the Klamath River in northern
California. The dams harm salmon in numerous ways, including blocking access to
upstream spawning habitat. The removal of the dams has begun.
Most media reporting on salmon and tribes emphasize the cultural connection, rarely
mentioning the commercial reason for promoting salmon recovery. The general
narrative of most media reporting is on how important salmon are to tribal culture but
fails to mention how tribal cultural interests can threaten wild salmon recovery.
As with salmon in other parts of the West, commercial salmon catch also harms wild
salmon since most salmon are taken with indiscriminate gill nets. Wild salmon are
caught along with hatchery salmon. Since most tribes commercially fish for salmon, they
are incentivized to increase overall salmon production with hatcheries, compromising
the wild salmon stock.
Yet many tribes along the Klamath, such as the Yurok Tribe, sell wild salmon. Given
how rare the salmon are, taking any endangered species, especially for commercial
use, would seem counterproductive if you call salmon “sacred.”
In particular, coho salmon in the Klamath River are barely hanging. Salmon advocates
(which is distinctively different from tribal advocates) believe a total moratorium on all
fishing is the best way to bring about wild salmon recovery. However, as a
generalization, the tribes oppose such a policy.
NORTH UMPQUA
The North Umpqua is a stonghold for wild steelhead, however continued hatchery
production championed by tribal interests is a threat to the wild fish. Photo George
Wuerthner
The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw, Cow Creek Band of
Umpqua Tribe of Indians, Coquille Indian Tribe, and Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde all opposed the closure of a hatchery on the North Umpqua River by the Oregon
Fish and Game Commission. The commission sees hatchery fish as competitors with
wild fish for spawning habitat.
FISH FARMING IN SKAGIT BAY
Tribal fish farms in Skagit Bay threaten wild salmon. Photo George Wuerthner
The Jamestown S’Kallam Tribe has agreed to develop fish farming in Skagit Bay,
Washington. Fish farming is notorious for its environmental harm, including dumping
vast amounts of feces and antibiotics in affected waterways.