Speaker: Casey Schmidt
In the mid-1800’s the US government entered a series of treaties with multiple tribes with a guarantee that the tribes would be able to practice their traditional hunting, fishing, and gathering practices. After much conflict between the state of WA and the tribes, the Boldt Decision (US v WA) guaranteed the right of twenty sovereign tribal nations to fish, hunt, and gather in their usual and accustomed areas (U&A) and established the tribal nations as co-managers of the resource. Puget Sound origin salmon can pass through the territory of multiple treaty tribes, states, and cross international boundaries (US/Canada). Reaching agreement and managing this anadromous species to protect weak and listed stocks, while fulfilling treaty rights and opportunity for commercial and sports fishers is a challenge. In this talk, I will discuss the scientific and sometimes not-so-scientific process used to manage salmon in the Puget Sound.