Studies about the future of the Elwha River, which snakes up into Olympic National Park, have been going on for more than 20 years. Now that dam removal is about a year away, excitement is reaching new heights.

I thought that this would be a good time to discuss the restoration of the river and reservoirs behind the two dams. How will the natural environment change? What kinds of plants will take over? And what will be the future of salmon and steelhead that have hung on in the lower river all these years?

These are subjects I touched on in a series of articles published in Sunday’s Kitsap Sun. In one piece, I also mentioned the special cultural significance of the Elwha River to the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.

From the story:

The tribe argues that the proposed North Kitsap Legacy Partnership would permanently harm Port Gamble Bay and may not be legal under the state law that directs growth to urban areas. The tribe favors pursuing alternatives that would place the development elsewhere.

“We don’t agree with the legality of some of the things they’re proposing,” Chairman Jeromy Sullivan said.

…………………….

S’Klallam officials don’t object to setting aside the timberland. But they do object to the nature of the proposed development on 1,000 acres around the town site, as well as overwater construction that the tribe fears could permanently close shellfishing in the bay.

“It’s all subject to GMA challenge,” S’Klallam economic development director Noel Higa said, referring to the Growth Management Act, which aims to concentrate development in urban areas and reduce sprawl.

The goal is to restore the Elwha River ecosystem, especially its fabled salmon fisheries, choked off by two dams for nearly a century. The takedown of the dams will take about three years to complete. The first concrete will come out of the dams beginning just about a year from now, in September 2011.

“Oh mercy, I am so certainly happy to hear that,” said Adeline Smith, 92, an elder of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, when told over the phone of the news.

Recovery of fish runs is expected to be gradual, building over about 30 years.

“It probably won’t be in my time; it takes years for it to come back,” Smith said. “But I will be happy to see our grandchildren and their children’s children see the fish come up, and the wildlife, and everything around the river will come back, which makes me happy.”

The National Park Service signed the $27 million contract with Barnard Construction of Bozeman. The total project cost is $351 million, including a new hatchery and flood- protection levees on the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s reservation, and a new water system for the city of Port Angeles for drinking water and industrial supply — projects already completed or under way.

Information about the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe can be found at http://www.elwhainfo.org/people-and-communities/lower-elwha-klallam-tribe or the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Facebook page.

More information about Elwha River Restoration is available at the Olympic National Park website http://www.nps.gov/olym or at the Elwha River Restoration Facebook page.

.

The Peninsula Daily News reported the tribe’s announcement of the new translation recently, and was picked up by other regional papers, including The Olympian and Kitsap Sun, plus National Public Radio.

From the story:

Elaine Grinnell, a Jamestown S’Klallam tribal member and a member of the Sequim Museum & Arts Center board, said her grandmother, Elizabeth Prince, was interviewed by Montler before she died.

“My people did go there to shoot,” Grinnell, born in 1936, recalled. “The ducks would go in there, and the hunting was plentiful. I remember that as a kid.”

Her cousin and fellow tribal member, Les Prince, said he trusted Montler’s translation if he talked to the elders.

“Some of those old ladies, they really knew the language,” he said. “If he says they said it, then I would think it was right.”

This week, scientists from agencies, universities and consulting firms gathered for a two-day research foray along the Elwha River, to consider what can be learned when the dams come down. For this dream team of specialists — engineers, fisheries scientists, biologists, geomorphologists and a botanist — the dam removal on the Elwha is a science Olympics of sorts, a chance to watch natural processes in play as the river and its surroundings undergo ecological changes on a scale not seen before.

From the story:

The new license allows Tacoma Power to add generators to capture energy from increased flows restored to the North Fork of the Skokomish River. The generators will be able to produce up to 3 megawatts of electricity.

The settlement agreement includes a one-time cash payment of $12.6 million to the Skokomish Tribe, along with 7.25 percent of the revenue from power produced at the lower Cushman Dam and transfer of lands valued at $23 million, including Camp Cushman on Lake Cushman, the 500-acre Nalley Ranch at the mouth of the Skokomish River, and Saltwater Park near Potlatch on Hood Canal.

Joseph Pavel, vice chairman of the Skokomish Tribal Council, said he was pleased that FERC approved the license according to the settlement.

“We look forward to working with the city as partners in the watershed, implementing the conditions of the license,” he said.

From the article:

“The head of the National Park Service praised Lower Elwha Klallam tribal leaders for their support on the cusp of the largest dam removal project in the nation’s history.
“Without the tribe’s support . . . this would not have happened,” Park Service Director Jon Jarvis during the informal meeting on the Lower Elwha Klallam reservation just west of Port Angeles.
The tribe has been one of the strongest supporters of the 1992 Elwha River Restoration Act, which requires removal of the watercourse’s two dams to restore historic salmon runs.
After nearly two decades of planning, dismantling of the dams under the aegis of the Park Service, is slated to begin next year.
“It’s almost hard to believe that we are here,” said Jarvis, formerly the Park Service’s Pacific West Region director before being appointed by President Barack Obama as director of the nation’s national park system last fall.”

The mouth of the creek is known to the Suquamish as the “Place of Chum Salmon.” It is one the largest native salmon-producing creeks in Puget Sound. An average of 30,000 fish spawn in the watershed each year.

The tribe partnered with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Kitsap County and the U.S. Navy to make the project a reality.

“The Suquamish people have relied on the dog salmon of Chico Creek for thousands of year as a source of food for the winter season,” said Suquamish Tribal Chairman Leonard Forsman. “We are happy that the first of the three fish-blocking culverts will be removed through our partnership with the EPA, Kitsap County and the Navy. We look forward to giving these ancestral fish a fighting chance for survival.”

The removal of the culvert will allow native chum salmon, the watershed’s predominate salmon species, to take advantage of a widened estuary. Currently, when the tide is low, salmon have a hard time reaching the culvert to continue their spawning journey upstream. In the fall, when the creek is running high and fast, the volume and speed of the creek water makes it difficult for salmon to access the culvert.

“It will be interesting to see how the channel realigns itself after the estuary is returned to a more natural condition,” said Jay Zischke, the tribe’s marine fisheries manager. “Box culverts such as the ones we are removing are effective for conveying water, but negatively impact the way an estuary should work by constricting channel movement, water flow and fish access.”

The tribe has been working hard to keep Chico Creek one of the most sustainable salmon-producing creeks in the region. In the past year alone, the tribe has installed tons of gravel and dozens of rootwads near the mouth of the creek to help slow the water and create pools that salmon need.

END

For more information, contact Leonard Forsman, Suquamish Tribal Chairman, at (360) 598-3311 or lforsman@suquamish.nsn.us; or Jay Zischke, Suquamish Tribe marine fisheries manager, at (360) 394-8444 or jzischke@suquamish.nsn.us; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org.

A Suquamish High School student tosses bucket of oyster larve into a saltwater tank.

Viviane Barry, a tribal shellfish biologist, showed students from the Suquamish-based tribal high school how Pacific oysters are easily seeded.

“This type of hands-on stuff is relevant to what is going on in their tribes,” said teacher Bob Kirk. “These students often have clam and oyster bakes with their family and during ceremonial events but it’s important to understand where the resources come from.”

With 500,000 tiny oyster larvae donated by Taylor Shellfish Farms, Barry placed a couple hundred under a microscope for the high school students to examine. Students saw that the wriggling oyster larvae had a foot (like a clam’s) with which the oyster secretes a cement-like glue to attach itself to hard objects as they metamorphose into the final oyster stage.

After examining the larvae, the students took turns dispersing them into a large seawater tank filled with empty oyster shells. The larvae set on the shells and stayed in the tank for about a week during which the students fed them a concentrated algae solution and observed changes in the color of water. The algae food quickly darkens the water, but within 24 hours the water is clear, evidence that the oysters are feeding.

“I’ve never seen this kind set up before for oysters,” said Ricky Sullivan, 17. “I’ve planted seeds for clams but never for oysters.”

Toward the end of June, students helped spread the oysters on the beach by the old tribal center and will be able to watch the progress over time.

“It’s beneficial to teach students that they can easily grow food that the tribe depends on,” Barry said. “If they can grow oysters themselves, it’s like growing a garden. It’s very easy to do while also learning about shellfish and the importance of water quality.”

END

For more information, contact: Viviane Barry, Suquamish Tribe shellfish biologist, at (360) 394-8448 or vbarry@suquamish.nsn.us; Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org

Members of the Lower Elwha Klallam Revegetation crew cut grass around native trees.

“These plants quickly spread, preventing native plants from thriving,” said Mike McHenry, the tribe’s habitat manager. “It’s bad for the existing river habitat and if it’s not taken care of, there could be bigger problems after dam removal.”

For the past five years, the tribe’s revegetation crew has been working throughout the river valley identifying and removing invasive plants, such as Scotch broom, knotweed, canary grass and sweet peas.

“This spring alone we’ve treated 10 acres of Scotch broom with herbicide,” said Floyd Cooke, the crew’s field supervisor. “But that’s just barely scratching the surface.”

The tribe has also planted more than 20,000 native conifers and deciduous trees, including douglas fir, western red cedar, grand fir, red alder, black cottonwood, big leaf maple and sitka willow.

In addition to up and down the valley, the tribe’s revegetation efforts have also focused around manmade lakes Aldwell and Mills, which are reservoirs. The biggest concern is what the reservoirs are going to leave behind after they are drained following dam removal.

“Everything that drains into those reservoirs right now might carry invasive seeds,” McHenry said. “Taking care of the plants now surrounding the dams will help prevent their further spread.”

McHenry is also working with the Olympic National Park on a re-vegetation plan for the reservoirs after they are drained.

“After the water is gone, we want that area to be a floodplain forest that will accelerate recovery and habitat forming processes as well as preclude non-native weeds from establishing,” McHenry said.

Abigail Welch and John Melovidov take a sediment sample from Tala Point.

The NaGISA Project, derived from the Japanese word for “nearshore zone,” is an international effort aimed at inventorying and monitoring coastal biodiversity while encouraging local communities, students, teachers and researchers to participate. The data collected is entered into a central database that includes information collected from the more than 280 participating groups around the world.

“After helping out with tribal involvement in a NaGisa project in Alaska, I thought that the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe would be the perfect group to do the state’s first site and help get more sites going in the next few years,” said Paul McCollum, the tribe’s natural resources director. “Our staff is out in the water and on the beaches studying this type of information every week.”

Led by tribal project biologist Janet Aubin and the tribe’s habitat biologist, Hans Daubenberger, tribal staff and volunteers studied 15 randomly-selected plots on the stretch of beach, including counting eelgrass strands and invertebrates, and taking sediment and algae samples. Some of the 1-by-1 meter sampling areas had as many as 300 strands of eelgrass, plus a variety of tubeworms, hermit crabs and sea anemones. The samples collected were sorted and identified in the lab. Expert species identification assistance was provided by Sandra Lindstrom, a phycologist and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Botany at the University of British Columbia.

“This type of global effort to establish baseline biodiversity data is invaluable,” Aubin said. “It will allow us to track changes over time, as well as increase our understanding of the habitat diversity within our region. We hope our participation will facilitate more NaGISA surveys in the area in the future.”

Participants included tribal staff and volunteers from Northwest Indian College, Seattle Aquarium, Point No Point Treaty Council, Evergreen State College, University of British Columbia and a private consulting company.

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END

For more information, contact: Paul McCollum, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe natural resources director, at 360.297.6237 or paulm@pgst.nsn.us; Janet Aubin, project biologist, at janet_aubin@yahoo.com; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org

All species are closed for harvest on ocean beaches and on beaches along the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Dungeness Spit to Cape Flattery. Sequim Bay and Discovery Bay are only closed to harvest of butter clams.

From the DOH press release:

All species means clams (including geoduck), oyster, mussels and other invertebrates such as the moon snail.  All areas are closed for the sport harvest of scallops.  These closures do not apply to shrimp.  Crabmeat is not known to contain the PSP toxin, but the guts can contain unsafe levels.  To be safe, clean crab thoroughly and discard the guts (butter).

It is important to know the difference between butter clams and other species of clams.  Butter clams have the ability to retain PSP toxin for a very long time – up to a year or more.  Areas may be closed for the sport harvest of butter clams when all other species are safe and open.

For more information about this closure, call the Marine Biotoxin Hotline at 1-800-562-5632, or visit the Department of Health’s Marine Biotoxin Website at http://ww4.doh.wa.gov/gis/biotoxin.htm.

For additional information, call the Clallam County Environmental Health Food Safety Program at 360-417-2328.

Tribal fisherman Johnnie Grossglass prepares to release one of the ceremonial salmon.

There is a new video posted at http://nwifc.blip.tv/ of the Swinomish Tribe’s 2010 Blessing of the Fleet ceremony and luncheon that took place May 13. Guests were treated to a salmon and shellfish meal, before following the Edwards family from the tribal gym to the waterfront. The tribe’s fleet of fishermen received blessings from the Shaker, Pentecostal and Catholic churches. Fishermen were then sent in each of the four cardinal directions to return several salmon back to the water.

Port Gamble shellfish biologist Tamara Gage observes the bay's shores for oil.

The 50-foot long former surplus Navy torpedo recovery boat drifted onto reservation shores after becoming loose from its mooring late Wednesday night, and heeled over as the tide dropped, resulting in diesel fuel spilling from a fuel tank vent. How much oil was spilled is unknown, however, contractors pumped 1,200 gallons of diesel fuel from the stranded boat Thursday night, according to the DOE. The agency also estimated the total fuel tank capacity to be 1,500 gallons.

The tribe has shut down all shellfishing on the east side of the bay, from Point Julia to the southern border of the reservation, until further notice. Tribal members harvest shellfish from the beach often for ceremonial and subsistence purposes.

“We’re going to monitor the situation over the weekend and re-assess potential openings next week,” said Tamara Gage, the tribe’s shellfish management biologist. “It’d be great for a big storm to come through this weekend to help dissipate the oil.”

Gage walked the beach on Friday morning to observe the remaining oil sheen. There was still a faint smell of diesel and light shimmers of oil along the waterline.

Diesel fuel, unlike crude oil, evaporates quickly. Shellfish are also good at filtering out toxins, but not if the oil is still seeping out of the beach, said Paul McCollum, the tribe’s natural resources director.

The spill comes at a time when the tribe has been working hard with its neighbors to help clean up the bay. While still relatively clean compared to other areas of Puget Sound, incidents like this are happening more and more in Port Gamble Bay.

“Trying to help keep this area as clean as possible is getting harder and harder, but the tribe is not going to give up,” McCollum said. “The tribe can’t just pick up and leave once its natural resources are destroyed. Not just the tribe, but everyone, has to work together to help cleanup and protect the bay.”

See more photos at NWIFC’s Flickr site.

From the article:

— In the South Fork of the Skokomish, about 25 engineered logjams will be installed this summer to improve salmon habitat, including spawning riffles, resting pools and hiding areas. The project, a joint effort of the Forest Service and Skokomish Tribe, is expected to cost about $650,000.

— In the Skokomish estuary at Hood Canal, a $3-million restoration of Nalley Island is planned, including the removal of 2.5 miles of dikes and 2 miles of interior roads. Tide channels will be restored through the property, connecting with Hood Canal. The project is expected to improve habitat for all species of salmon and shellfish, reduce flooding upstream and possibly improve the low-oxygen problem plaguing Lower Hood Canal.

From the article:

Also involved in the discussion is Tim Cullinan, a biologist who studies elk management for the Point No Point Treaty Council.

The river corridor is some of the best habitat in the region for the Dosewallips elk herd, which currently numbers about 60 to 70 animals, Cullinan said. On the other hand, there is a concern that putting all the land into a state park would preclude tribal hunting, which is guaranteed by treaty.

“The exact same area proposed for long-term conservation is the exact area where the hunting is done at this point,” he said. “If it all went into state park status, that could eliminate most of the hunting opportunities.”

Cullinan said he would look for solutions that would maintain tribal hunting while increasing protections for fish and wildlife.

A fin-clipped juvenile pink salmon.

“The late run of Dungeness pink salmon limits its use the river to the very lower reaches and is in need of a boost,” said Scott Chitwood, the tribe’s natural resources director. “This area has poor habitat and the salmon that spawn in the lower river don’t do well there.”

Much of the problem is caused by dikes that constrain the river’s tendency to move around within its flood plain. Dikes increase the velocity of the river causing the gravel to scour which destroys salmon eggs located in shallow nests.

Pink salmon from the lower Dungeness River were collected and spawned last fall at the state’s Hurd Creek Hatchery. This spring 120,000 of those progeny were reared and released into the lower river. These “supplemental” fish were identified by having their adipose fins clipped before being released. When the fish return as adults in two years, the co-managers will assess the relative proportions of naturally produced and supplemented late timed pink salmon spawning in the lower Dungeness River

“Our goal is to create a better balance between the highly sustainable early run of pink salmon that spawn throughout the watershed and this less productive  late run that spawns in the lower river only,” Chitwood said.

While pinks have a lower commercial value, they play an important role in a properly functioning ecosystem by providing food for other animals and contributing nutrients to the watershed.

“Cooperation is the key to protecting, enhancing and restoring the salmon resource,” Chitwood said.

That sentiment was echoed by Hurd Creek hatchery specialist Dan Witczak.

“Jamestown has always been supportive of the work we do,” Witczak said. “They put a lot more into the resource than they take out.”

END

For more information, contact Scott Chitwood, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s natural resources director at (360) 681-4616 or schitwood@jamestowntribe.org; or Dan Witczak, WDFW Hurd Creek Hatchery manager, at (360) 683-1738 or hurdcreek@dfw.wa.gov; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org.

From the story:

To the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, the removal of the dams is about more than salmon. When the dams were built, their reservoirs inundated the site of the tribe’s only inland village and the “tribal creation site” where, according to legend, the tribe was created.

“We just have word of mouth about where they are,” said Robert Elofson, the tribe’s director of Elwha River restoration. “It’s been 100 years.”

“Installing formidable wood structure complexes in the river and riparian zone and planting native vegetation in this small stretch will improve spawning and rearing habitat for Steelhead, bull trout, coho and chinook, ” said Alex Gouley, the tribe’s habitat resource manager. “The area  is open and exposed; salmon need deep pools, cover and shade associated with streams reaches that have abundant vegetation and woody debris, channel depth and complexity.”

Puget Sound Ccinook, steelhead, and bull trout are listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act.

This particular stretch of the South Fork has been heavily impacted by past land management activities including logging and wood debris removal in preparation for a proposed dam project in the 1950s that was abandoned prior to initiation of construction. Past management of the watershed has had a huge effect on habitat.

As a result, the tribe has seen the river channel shift or widen and become shallow because of degraded conditions. Woody debris and native vegetation are needed to keep riverbanks stable. When the river runs high, some exposed gravel bars release higher incremental amounts of sediment downstream and into the mainstem of the Skokomish River. The riparian and landscape alterations may have contributed to reduced fish access though the South Fork gorge by changing the timing and duration of river flows.

“This work will also complement the Skokomish Tribes estuary restoration that is taking place at the delta,” said Marc McHenry, a fish biologist with the Olympic National Forest.

The tribe, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, will construct approximately 30 formidable wood structure complexes in the stream channel and plant native vegetation on 12 acres of floodplain area to help stabilize the river and provide proper spawning and rearing areas.

“This is a small section of river but benefits to the salmon will pay off in the long run,” Gouley said. “Working with the U.S. Forest Service allows us opportunities to take care of important restoration work together that we couldn’t have done as individual entities.”

Funding for the project came from the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The U.S. Forest Service is donating wood for the formidable wood structure complexes.

END

For more information, contact Alex Gouley, Skokomish Tribe habitat resource manager, at (360) 877-2110 or agouley@skokomish.org; Marc McHenry, Olympic National Forest fish biologist at 360-765-2231 or mmchenry@fs.fed.us; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org.

WDFW biologist Scott Harris and Skokomish Tribe biologist Bethany Tropp watch Tomokazu Hager, 13, administer medicine to a female elk with the help of tribal wildlife technician Emily Wirtz.

Skokomish tribal natural resources staff were out on an elk collaring survey when they spotted an uncollared herd in a private pasture.  With permission from the property’s owners, the tribe was able to track, capture and collar a female from the herd. The Global Positioning System (GPS) collar allows the tribe to follow the herd’s movement for the study.

The herd is a regular visitor to the Hager family, which owns the 41-acre pasture. But being able to witness and participate in a real-life science study opened up the eyes of the five homeschooled Hager children. The two oldest boys, 13 and 11, helped administer medicines given to the elk while she was sedated.

“That was pretty interesting,” said Tomokazu Hager, 13. “It felt like we were kind of part of Animal Planet.”

“We’ve never seen an elk that close before,” added Wes Hager, 10. After the elk was collared and released, the kids received a quick lesson in elk behavior, as well as a tour of the helicopter that was used to track the herd. The family also decided to name “their” elk Sacajawea and will integrate their observations into their studies.

Since 2008, the tribe has been tracking the herds within its primary hunting area, Game Management Unit 636, counting only about 150 elk.

“That is way too low – the herd population needs to be up around 500 elk or so,” said Bethany Tropp-Brinkerhoff, the tribe’s wildlife biologist. “We have several herds that we’re focusing on, trying to mark their foraging ranges and population growth.”

The tribe’s goal is to collar several elk in each herd so movements can be tracked year round. The tribe will also enhance elk foraging areas this fall with the Olympic National Forest by planting native trees and plants, such as dogwoods, snowberries and willows in areas where the elk are known to feed.

“Preserving the area’s elk population is key to supporting the tribe’s treaty-reserved right to hunt elk, which contribute to the tribe’s subsistence and ceremonial needs,” said Joseph Pavel, the tribe’s natural resources director. “Elk is a traditional food that is low in fat and a good source of protein.”

The tribe is partnering with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife on this project.

END

For more information, contact: Bethany Tropp, Skokomish Tribe wildlife biologist, at (360) 877-5213 or btropp@skokomish.org; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org.

A recent article in the Peninsula Daily News explains the project, which is a collaborative project between the tribe, its co-manager Washington State and the nonprofit organization Eyes In The Woods.

From the story:

It’s called the Northeast Olympic Roosevelt Elk Project, and Eyes is collaborating with the state and with the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, which are the elk herd’s co-managers.

Its aim is simple: keep as many elk as possible on their historical range on the south side of Highway 101.

The Dungeness herd of Roosevelt elk includes a band of more than 20 animals on the south side, said Tim Cullinan, the Point No Point Treaty Council biologist hired by the Jamestown tribe to study and monitor the herd.

…

Employed by cattle ranchers in Australia, this animal management system uses collars with global positioning systems to track a herd’s location.

If the cows move toward land they shouldn’t, the programmable collars alert the ranchers, who can go out and herd them back where they belong.

Cullinan said he and McMillan won a $33,675 state grant in 2009 for an elk-GPS project, and arranged to work with Eyes in the Woods volunteers through this spring, summer and fall.

“We’re going to start out with just three collars,” Cullinan said. “We’ll try to get adult females.

“They’re the ones who make the decisions on where the herd will go.”

The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe will soon begin a search for contaminated areas surrounding Port Gamble Bay, thanks to $617,000 in federal grants.

It is a major undertaking, which will take a close look at tribal lands, the old Port Gamble townsite and mill site, as well as other properties where contamination is suspected and owners are willing to provide access.

“The first step,” said Jessica Coyle, the tribe’s program manager, “is to do an assessment of the reservation and the area around the reservation. We’ll be looking at the history of the area and taking soil and groundwater samples as needed.”

Seattle Times:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/othersports/2011277107_outn07.htm

Kitsap Sun: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/mar/01/agate-passage-net-pens-full-again/

North Kitsap Herald: http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/kitsap/nkh/news/85923022.html

From The Seattle Times:

The Central Puget Sound area could see a boost in catches by the 2011 fall fishing season, thanks to the revival of a tribal salmon net pen operation in Agate Pass.

“It is good news to get this net pen back in operation, and it will offer a good fishing opportunity in the future for the tribe and other fishermen,” said Jay Zischke, the Suquamish Tribe’s marine fish manager.

The tribe delivered 265,000 coho smolts (March 1) from the Gorst Hatchery to its net pen near Agate Pass between Suquamish and Bainbridge Island.

The tribe received the Washington-British Columbia Chapter of the American Fisheries Society 2009-2010 Conservation Organization of the Year award at the society’s annual meeting in Nanaimo, British Columbia on March 3.

The Conservation Organization of the Year is awarded to an organization that has significantly contributed to a program or activity for conservation of fishery resources or habitats.

The tribe was selected for:

1) extensive habitat restoration along the north Olympic Peninsula;

2) removal of numerous migration barriers;

3) dike removal and installation of engineered logjams; and

4) invasive species control and native vegetation planting.

Coho salmon smolts were transferred through a fish pump at the Gorst Hatchery, and into a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fish transfer truck. The truck took the fish to a dock at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Keyport, where a Suquamish tribal barge loaded the fish into the barge’s holding tank, then emptied them into the tribe’s net pen near Agate Pass.

“It’s great to be able to reengage this program because it provides a Kitsap-based coho fishery opportunity for tribal members, with benefits for non-treaty fishers as well,” said Jay Zischke, the tribe’s marine fish manager. “This has been a multi-year collaboration, which has involved working with our co-manager, Washington State, the city of Bremerton and the U.S. Navy.”

The tribe transferred 265,000 coho smolts from Gorst Hatchery to its net pen near Agate Pass on Monday, March 1, located between Suquamish and Bainbridge Island. The smolt stage of a salmon’s lifecycle is when the fish are ready to transition from living in freshwater to saltwater before heading out to sea.

Using Minter Creek Hatchery stock, the one-and-a-half year old coho were transferred from the Gorst Hatchery to a dock at the U.S. Navy’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Keyport using Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fish transfer trucks.

At Keyport, the smolts were loaded on to a tribal barge, which took the fish out to the 70,000 cubic foot net pen.

The fish will spend nearly three months in the pen before being released this spring. They are held in the net pen to acclimatize to the salt water environment and to imprint on the area so they return to the Agate Pass area as adults.

Net pen operations like this are common throughout Puget Sound and are often successful in contributing to Washington fisheries. During the first two decades of the Agate Pass program, 600,000 hatchery coho were released each year from the net pens. Puget Sound coho are considered a “species of concern” under the federal Endangered Species Act.  All of the Agate Pass produced fish are marked with an adipose fin clip.

“We are pleased to partner with the Suquamish Tribe on this important fish transfer,” said Captain Stephen Iwanowicz, Commanding Officer of Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Keyport. ”This is a great example of how the Navy is committed to being good stewards of the environment, along with deepening the strong relationships we have with our Native American neighbors.”

END

For more information, contact: Jay Zischke, Suquamish Tribe fisheries management biologist/marine fish manager, at (360) 394-8444 or jzischke@suquamish.nsn.us; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org.

Hatchery technician Ben Ives Sr. adjusts the net on the net pen in Port Gamble Bay.

Tribal hatchery manager Tim Seachord and natural resources staff worked with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to bring 425,000 coho salmon smolts from the state’s George Adams Hatchery in Hoodsport to Port Gamble Bay.

Over the course of four days, the young fish were hauled from the hatchery to a tribal barge, then floated out to the tribe’s 63,000-cubic-foot net pens near Point Julia. The fish will remain in the pens until June before being released and will return to the area as adults. The tribe has been putting this operation into place since 1981.

“These fish are for everyone, tribal and nontribal, to be harvested when they come back as adults next fall,” Seachord said. “It’s been a pretty successful program for nearly three decades for all fishermen who participate in the Port Gamble Bay and Hood Canal fisheries.”

All of the fish have coded-wire tags inserted in their snouts. The millimeter-long tag contains information about its hatchery of origin, release date and other data. Their adipose fins also are removed to mark them as hatchery fish.

“This fishery has been successful because we have lost so many fishing opportunities over the years with listings of fish under the federal Endangered Species Act,” said Paul McCollum, the tribe’s natural resources director. “Having a local fishery has been critical for fishermen, both tribal and non tribal.”

The tribe also appreciates its partnership with Pope Resources, which has allowed the tribe and WDFW to access the bay via one of its docks in the historic town of Port Gamble, and has been key to the program’s success, McCollum said.

Net pen operations contribute significantly to successful fisheries in Puget Sound. Other net pen operations in the area include the Suquamish and Muckleshoot tribe’s Elliott Bay net pens and the Suquamish’s newly restarted Agate Pass net pen operation.

END

For more information, contact Paul McCollum, Port Gamble S’Klallam natural resources director, at (360) 297-6237 or paulm@pgst.nsn.us; Tim Seachord, Port Gamble S’Klallam hatchery manager, at (360) 297-3933 or timbear@pgst.nsn.us; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org.

In western Washington, five tribes are recipients of this award:

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe – $57,312 for restoration of the Dungeness Elk Herd in the Dungeness River Valley

Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe  – $199,995 for a study on the impact of river restoration efforts on river-dependent species, river otters and American dippers

Lummi Nation – $200,000 for habitat restoration in the South fork Fobes Reach in the Nooksack River basin to support endangered species recovery of bull trout, steelhead, chinook and other salmon species.

Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians  – $147,895 for restoration, enhancement and protection of 60 acres of floodplain habitat along the South Fork Stillaguamish River (Klein Farm Wildlife Preserve).

Tulalip Tribes -  $192,039 for monitoring fish and water resources on the Tulalip Tribes Indian Reservation, supporting a fisheries, water resources, and habitat monitoring project.

The full press release can be found here.

The tribe’s chairwoman Frances Charles and the tribe’s river restoration director Rob Elofson led the festivities, which included speeches from dignitaries such as Stan Speaks of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and U.S. Representative Norm Dicks, followed by a tribal dinner and honoring event.

From the PDN:

With shovels in hand, dignitaries from near and far — including Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles and U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks — broke ground on the $16.4 million Elwha River fish hatchery last week.
More than 200 citizens attended the one-hour ceremony at the future site of the facility near Stratton Road on the Lower Elwha reservation west of Port Angeles on a sun-splashed Friday.
The hatchery is a key component of the National Park Service’s $308 million removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams. Actual dam removal will begin in 2011 and run through 2014.

“The new space will allow us to expand our hatchery operations, even more so when the dams come down,” said Larry Ward, the tribe’s hatchery manager. “More fish will have better access to the river valley as well.”

Construction is expected to take 18 months and be completed by spring 2011. Once the new facility is functioning, the current tribal facility will be decommissioned after the last fish released from the hatchery return.

The new hatchery will provide additional raceways and early-rearing ponds, as well as greater control over water temperatures while eggs are being incubated.

The tribe currently has several hatchery programs, including a steelhead broodstock program to help ensure that the remaining Elwha River steelhead aren’t wiped out during the deconstruction of the dams. Elwha River steelhead are part of the Puget Sound steelhead population listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The tribe also raises chum and coho and expects to start a pink salmon program in the new facility to restore that species in the Elwha River

Tribal, federal, state and county dignitaries spoke highly of the work that has been put into preparing the Elwha River valley for the removal of its two dams, the 108-foot-tall Elwha Dam and the 210-foot-tall Glines Canyon Dam. The structures – built without fish passage – have been in place since the early 1900s. Removal is expected to begin in 2011.  Currently only the lower 5 miles of the river is available to salmon.

The tribe has been working feverishly since the early 1990s to prep the river valley and floodplains for the expected increased in water flow and sediment following dam removal. Efforts have included constructing engineered logjams, removing manmade dikes, replacing undersized culverts with larger culverts and bridges, and planting native vegetation in floodplain areas.

“We’re taking advantage of this event to thank all our families, friends and allies who have supported us through the journey this far,” said Rob Elofson, the tribe’s river restoration director. “We’ve used all the influence we could to help restore the river. No one said we never lived up to our Klallam name – ‘Strong People.’”

END

For more information, contact: Larry Ward, Lower Elwha Klallam hatchery manager, at (360) 457-4012 ext. 17 or lward@elwha.nsn.us; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org

From the story:

The Tribe is working hard to identify an immediate solution that will keep the trail open. Because the Tribe also focuses on protecting the Dungeness River and its valuable habitat, any viable solution will also minimize impacts to side channel, which is particularly important for salmon.

In the long term, the River Center Board and Tribal Environmental Planners are in agreement that trestle improvements and an elevated extension to bridge the side channel are needed. This will require additional funding to accomplish the desired project.

Read entire article here.

The autumn backdrop. The trail of floating leaves from cars whizzing by. A sign of fall? Nah. You’re in salmon country now. That signals the start of chum runs here. Time to grab the binoculars and polarized shades and set out by kayak to witness the return of a Northwest icon.

Some watch from the shoreline, eelgrass dangling from their rubber boots. You can smell the tide rushing in from here. You can see the salmon jumping.

“You see fish up to 25 pounds splashing their way up the stream, returning to their place of birth,” said Paul Dorn, a local biologist, known around these parts as “The Salmon Guy.”

Jon Oleyar, a habitat biologist for the Suquamish Tribe, looks over a stream where a culvert has stopped salmon from swimming upstream. (MEEGAN M. REID | KITSAP SUN)

The Kitsap Sun reported on coho returning to Central Kitsap’s Wildcat Creek but they are being blocked from getting upstream as far as possible by a culvert. Jon Oleyar, a Suquamish Tribe biologist who studies the returning fish in local streams annually, discusses the importance of good habitat for fish.

From the article:

Migrating salmon on the Kitsap Peninsula continue to benefit from high streamflows created by recent rains. Now, coho salmon, which like to swim far upstream, are helping biologists uncover new problems with the ecosystem.

Such is the case with a tributary upstream of Wildcat Lake in Central Kitsap, where a culvert appears to create a dead-end for coho.

“Look at them,” said Jon Oleyar, a biologist for the Suquamish Tribe, standing at the edge of the stream on Tuesday. “They’re just waiting to go up.”

“The timing of these rains is just about perfect,” said Jon Oleyar, a biologist for the Suquamish Tribe who knows the East Kitsap streams like nobody else. “If you’re a salmon, you’re saying, ‘It’s about time we got some decent water.’”

Coho salmon, which normally arrive earlier than chum, were favored by rains in October, the biologist said, and their size has been remarkable.

“By far, these are the largest coho I have ever seen,” said Oleyar, who has conducted salmon-counting surveys for the tribe for the past 11 years.

Lake Sutherland Kokanee

The tribe has been studying the landlocked sockeye salmon within the Elwha River watershed for four years, including the population’s health and genetics. The purpose is to gather baseline data of the population before the river’s fish-blocking dams are removed starting in 2011. The lake is connected to the river via Indian Creek.

Like sockeye, kokanee spawn only once in their life cycle, and typically spawn in rivers and streams that are tributaries to lakes but also on lakeshores, mainly where groundwater comes up through gravel.

Unlike sockeye, kokanee spend their entire lives in freshwater. Because they don’t migrate to sea to feed, kokanee are much smaller than their anadromous sockeye cousins.

“After the dams are removed, we’ll continue this effort and see if anadromous fish begin to use Lake Sutherland, and see if there is change in the health profile of the kokanee,” said Larry Ward, the tribe’s hatchery manager.

It’s possible that the kokanee may leave the lake and head for the Strait of Juan de Fuca after the dams come down,  but it is more likely the fish will  stick to the freshwater, Ward said.

“Having a solid database of the health of the kokanee will help us keep tabs on the health of the watershed,” Ward said. “It’s all part of learning more about the enormity of the Elwha River system and what species have what roles in it. The database we are building is incredibly valuable on its own, but more so if anything were to happen to this population.”

Fish pathologists from the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sample the fish for diseases and to develop genetic profiles. Special attention is paid to looking for Infectious Hematopoetic Necrosis (IHN) to which sockeye are susceptible. It’s a fish disease that causes death by destroying blood-forming tissues such as the kidney and the spleen.

Further work is being conducted by a biologist from Canada’s department of Fisheries and Oceans who is studying a fish parasite unique to the Lake Sutherland kokanee. The parasite doesn’t appear to be harmful to the fish, but further studies are being conducted.

Port Gamble S'Klallam habitat biologist Hans Daubenberger checks a juvenile salmon for a coded-wire tag.

As part of the tribe’s juvenile salmon pilot study, natural resources staff collected data weekly between April and October. In addition to tow netting, the tribe used other collection methods, including beach seining and scanning the water column with SONAR.

“We want to get a better understanding of the health of salmon coming in and out of Hood Canal,” said Hans Daubenberger, the Tribe’s habitat biologist. “It will help us manage fisheries better.”

The objectives of this pilot project are to study the current state of the marine environment and to assess the health of juvenile fish as they head to sea. The tribe is collecting a variety of data, including the weight and length of fish. Genetic and gut samples also are being gathered.

“We know a lot about freshwater systems and what factors play important roles in those habitats, but not so much about nearshore and deep water marine environments,” Daubenberger said. “We want to see which method provides the most information in the most efficient way possible.”

Information from the pilot project will be used to develop a five-year study of the area starting next summer.

Similar projects are underway  in the Skagit watershed and the San Juan Islands. By conducting parallel studies throughout Puget Sound, biologists are able to compare data over a larger spatial scale. All this work is part of Puget Sound Partnership’s overall effort to improve the health of the Puget Sound by 2020.

Funding for this project came from Puget Sound Partnership and Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery funds.

From Peninsula Daily News:

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Additional water is being released from the dams on the Elwha River to augment a low stream flow and protect Chinook salmon redds, or egg nests, below the lower dam.

The river’s average flow for early October is approximately 648 cubic feet per second; even with the current augmented flows, the river is flowing at 353 cubic feet per second, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

…

The augmented flows were authorized by Karen Gustin, park superintendent, in collaboration with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, which operates a hatchery on the river west of Port Angeles.

“We’re using the tide to manipulate the oysters,” said Chris Whitehead, the tribe’s shellfish biologist.

Oyster tumbling involves stuffing young oysters into mesh bags, attaching a buoy and securing the bags to a single horizontal stainless steel rod held in place by rebar stakes driven into the muck at low tide. The oyster seed-filled bags pivot on the rod and float as the tide rolls in and sink back to the bottom as the tide recedes. The ebb and flow of the tides agitates the oysters from one end to the other, or “tumbles” them. The action mimics nature, encouraging the oysters to break off new growth at the bill, and harden their shells as they mature.

Tribal biologist Chris Whitehead adjusts a mesh bag full of oysters on Sequim Bay.

The tumble bag system helps the Pacific oysters focus growth energy to the cup, rather than the bill; the latter is typical to the region. The deeper cup shell gives the Pacific oysters the look of Kumamoto oyster highly valued by consumers worldwide. The growing method has been used successfully at other shellfish growing operations throughout the region.

“This is a pilot study for us this year, but if we have a successful harvest this fall we may scale it up next year,” Whitehead said. Oyster farming has come a long way, from long-lining mother shells to suspending bags in several feet above the substrate to the tumble bag system, he added.

The tribe hopes to provide opportunities for tribal members to come and harvest from their native shores as well as to supply shellfish to enterprises such as the tribal casino, deli and golf course.

-END-

For more information, contact: Chris Whitehead, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe shellfish biologist, at (360) 681-4630, or cwhitehead@jamestowntribe.org; Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org.

The tribe's river restoration staff fills in a 1,500-foot long hatchery outfall ditch as part of the lower Elwha River floodplain restoration work.

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has begun preparing the lower Elwha River’s floodplain for the influx of sediment expected to come down the river after the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams are deconstructed starting in 2011.

“This work in the floodplain will help restore natural habitat forming processes in preparation for the expected release of the 20 million cubic feet of sediment trapped behind the dams,” said Mike McHenry, the tribe’s habitat program manager. “Our goal is to reconnect as much of the historic floodplain to the mainstem as possible. We are basically undoing historic channelization actions that have simplified the river.”

With $2 million in funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the tribe will be constructing 20 engineered logjams, removing three manmade dikes, replacing two culverts with a larger culvert and a bridge, and planting native vegetation. This summer, the tribe filled in an unused 1,500-foot-long hatchery outfall ditch that was built in the middle of the floodplain in 1977. All this work will help improve the river’s function ahead of the dams’ removal.

Historic aerial photos show the lower river functioning as a natural floodplain before the hatchery outfall ditch was constructed. The ditch severely altered the flow of the river. The filling of the ditch, plus the removal of the dikes, manmade ditches and culverts, will allow water to flow throughout the floodplain, creating better habitat for salmon, where the fish can rest, feed and hide. The restoration work will also will help filter out the dam sediment as it flows into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The Elwha River is the largest tributary draining into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and historically, was one of the largest producers of salmon in the region. Puget Sound chinook and Puget Sound steelhead, both federally listed salmon species, reside in the Elwha River.

“People think that the current state of the mouth of the river is natural but there are manmade dikes throughout the lower river and estuary that constrict the flow,” said Jim Balsiger, Acting Assistant Administrator of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. “Historically, this river used to have several natural channels and drainages, but now has only one. We want to ensure that the river quickly returns to its natural state when the Elwha’s dams are removed.”

The 108-foot Elwha Dam and the 210-foot Glines Canyon dam are scheduled for removal beginning in 2011.  The dams are owned by the federal government; the Olympic National Park is spearheading the removal effort. The total cost of the project is estimated at $308 million.

Funding for the project comes from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grant.  Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, NOAA distributed $167 million to 50 marine and coastal habitat restoration projects around the country. The Elwha Floodplain Restoration project was one of 50 projects out of 814 considered nationwide and received $2 million in funding.

-END-

For more information, contact Mike McHenry, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe habitat program manager, at (360) 457-4012 ext. 14 or mchenry@elwha.nsn.us; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org

A logjam being constructed in a sidechannel of the Dungeness River.

The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe hopes to see federally listed Puget Sound chinook and Hood Canal summer chum using these logjams following this summer’s restoration of 18 acres of estuary in the river delta.

The restoration work included building the logjams, creating tidal channels and breaching dikes built for road access in the 1960s to allow water to move freely throughout delta’s two salt marshes. The estuary provides critical rearing habitat for the listed salmon species.

“These marshes have a mixture of salt water from the Strait of Juan de Fuca and fresh water from the river, but as evidenced by the amount of invasive reed canary grass on the banks of the river, there’s not enough salt water getting into the estuary,” said Byron Rot, the tribe’s habitat program manager. “We hope the breaching of the dikes will help introduce saltwater vegetation again and make the habitat even more hospitable to salmon.”

Reed canary grass thrives in freshwater and prevents native plant growth, impacting the natural functions of a wetland. Eliminating the canary grass will allow native dunegrass to flourish. The breached dikes will allow extreme high tides and river flow to flood the area, contributing to the critical habitat needed for salmon. The restoration will also provide improved habitat for ducks.

“It’s a well functioning estuary,” Rot said. “It just needs a little extra help to make sure the native plants are thriving and salmon have a place of refuge.”

Funding for this project came from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

-END-

For more information, contact: Byron Rot, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe habitat program manager, at (360) 681-4615 or brot@jamestowntribe.org; Randy Johnson, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe restoration planner, at (360) 681-4631 or rjohnson@jamestowntribe.org; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org.

Human waste is being blamed for the closure of a tribal shellfish harvest on the Skokomish River near Shelton. State health officials say evidence suggests a huge turnout of non-tribal salmon fishermen is to blame, and the tribe is furious.

Also – Seattle Times and the Kitsap Sun.

Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of non-Indian anglers have been fishing for salmon, mostly chinook, since Aug. 1; the river has been open for non-salmon species since early June. Salmon sport fishing in the river is scheduled to continue through mid-December.

The Washington Department of Health (DOH) cited “human waste from sport fishers” as the reason for the closure, which will remain in place indefinitely. Officials from DOH and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) were scheduled to tour the river and tidelands today.

“The fact that the Skokomish Tribe must close an important shellfish harvest area as a direct result of non-Indian activities that are authorized by WDFW is an outrage and violates the tribe’s treaty rights,” said Skokomish Tribal Chairman Charles “Guy” Miller.

The area that is now closed, known as Potlatch East, is a harvest area for the tribe and includes tribally owned tidelands. The tribe currently has more than 170,000 oysters available for harvest on the beaches affected by the closure. In addition, plans to open tidelands along the eastern portion of Annas Bay, which have been closed for years, have now been shelved indefinitely as a result of the contamination.

The tribe recommends the following actions:

• An immediate closure of the recreational fishery in the Skokomish River until the current emergency shellfish closure is lifted,
• Clean-up of human waste and garbage along the Skokomish River from Purdy Creek downstream to the culvert replacement project site on U.S. highway 106,
• Implementation of a public awareness campaign prior to the re-opening of the recreational fisheries,
• Placement of adequate portable toilets and garbage facilities in key locations prior to the re-opening of the sport fishery,
• Adequate numbers enforcement officers to reasonably assure compliance of fishers in the recreational fishery.

The problem isn’t new, tribal officials said. In 2003, DOH and WDFW addressed the problem in a report entitled “Skokomish River Detailed Implementation Plan for Fecal Coliform Bacteria,” which addressed the pollution issue and potential solutions.

“We think it is particularly important that the recreational fishery in this area be closed immediately to prevent the problem from getting any worse,” Miller said. “The area also needs to be cleaned up. Simply waiting for floodwaters to flush the area is an unacceptable return to the philosophy of ‘dilution is the solution.’ The tribe is working hard to eliminate sources of fecal and nutrient contamination in Hood Canal. This contamination contributes to poor water quality leading to beach closures and oxygen depletion and we need some cooperation from WDFW.”

The small number of Skokomish tribal fishermen who harvest salmon in the lower river do not contribute to the problem, tribal officials said.

“Our people are taught to respect themselves and the environment in which they live. You take care of your needs before and after you go out, and don’t use the riverbank as your bathroom,” Miller said.

##

For more information, contact: Charles “Guy” Miller, Skokomish Tribal Chairman, at (360) 426-4232 or gmiller@skokomish.org ; Joseph Pavel, Skokomish Tribe Director of Natural Resources at (360) 877-5213 or jpavel@skokomish.org; Dave Hererra, Skokomish Tribe Fish Policy Analyst, at (360) 877-2100 ext. 2070 or dhererra@skokomish.org; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org.

Suquamish: Tribes Seek Crab and People for Hood Canal Crab Study

Jamestown S’Klallam: Tribe Fighting Latest Trend in Noxious Weeds: Butterfly Bush

Lower Elwha Klallam: Major Successes in Steelhead Broodstock Program at Lower Elwha

For two weeks, canoe families from all over western Washington and British Columbia traveled on their ancestral highways, arriving on the shores of Suquamish Aug. 3 for another week of celebration of their culture. The purpose of the journey is to practice their traditional ways of life, as well as pass these lessons on to younger generations. The work of the older generation is catching on – many of the canoes were filled with young tribal members.

This year also marked the 20th anniversary of “Paddle To Seattle,” when several U.S. tribes and Canadian first nations traveled to Suquamish to sing, dance and share stories before paddling to Seattle. It was then that canoe families were challenged to travel to Bella Bella, B.C., in 1993.

Since then, tribal journeys have taken place annually at various sites throughout the Northwest. For more information, go to www.tribaljourneys2009.com.

Photos can be viewed at our site on Flickr. Video can be viewed here.

Tribe reviving wild Elwha steelhead

In an effort to keep the wild steelhead in the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula from disappearing forever, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe is hard at work raising them in a hatchery.

The fish being raised at the tribe’s hatchery aren’t hatchery fish, but are part of the tribe’s captive wild steelhead broodstock program.

“We’ve found that wild steelhead tend to emigrate to the ocean as 2-year-olds, so we’ll try to rear them to that age before we release them,” said Larry Ward, a fisheries biologist and hatchery manager for the tribe. “We’ve been successful at raising the 2005 stock to spawning maturity, so things are going well so far.”

The program was designed to make sure wild steelhead remain in the river during the 2011 deconstruction of the Elwha River’s two dams, 210-foot Glines Canyon and 108-foot Elwha.

To follow the landing dates, where canoes will be pulling into over the course of the next two weeks, go to www.tribaljourneys2009.com. Nearly 100 canoes are expected to descend upon the shores of Suquamish on Monday, August 3, followed by five days of celebration of tribal ancestry.

A big note for this year – it’s the 20th anniversary of “Paddle To Seattle”, when all nations were challenged to help revive their ancestor’s natural highways. Starting in 1993, tribes have made annual two-week long canoe journeys to various nations throughout Washington and British Columbia. The journeys help teach younger generations about their tribal culture and way of life.

Several newspapers have started to report on the journey:

Kitsap Sun

Peninsula Daily News

NOAA’s news release here

• Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe: Elwha River Floodplain Restoration (Port Angeles, Wash.) – $2 million – In conjunction with the Elwha Dam removal, this project restores 82 acres of the floodplain of the lower Elwha River through the removal of dikes and culverts, re-vegetation and invasive species control.
• Lummi Nation: Smuggler’s Slough Nooksack River Restoration (Bellingham, Wash.) – $1.7 million – Raises a roadway and reconnects tidal exchange for 493 acres of Smuggler’s Slough channel that will flow to restored salt marsh and eelgrass habitat in Lummi Bay. Seven miles of slough habitat will also be opened as a result of this project.
• Upper Skagit Tribe: Hansen Creek Floodplain Restoration (Milltown, Wash.) – $988,000 – Excavates and reconnects 140 acres of forested floodplain habitat and install woody debris for chum, coho , threatened Chinook salmon, and other important species.
• Tulalip Tribes: Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration (Marysville, Wash.) – $2 million – Restores 350 acres of wetland and 16 stream miles of fish passage for several species of salmon on the lower Snohomish River and its surrounding tidal floodplain by removing levees, excavating channels and planting native vegetation and trees.

• Removal of Derelict Fishing Gear in Puget Sound (Seattle, Wash.) – $4.5 million –Removes over 200 metric tons of marine debris, including over 3,000 net removals, and restore 600 acres of habitat. Tribal divers from Nisqually, Puyallup and Squaxin Island tribes will be helping with gear removal.

• Fisher Slough Marsh Restoration (Burlington, Wash.) – $5.2 million – Restores 60 acres of the Skagit River floodplain by replacing antiquated agriculture floodgates and restoring 15 miles of high quality habitat for chum, coho, threatened Chinook salmon, and other important species.

Suquamish shellfish biologist Paul Williams shows Jean Walat, volunteer coordinator for the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, how to catch juvenile crabs with a bag of mesh scrubbers.

The instrument is quite simple to use – attach a mesh bag filled with mesh kitchen scrubbers to a small buoy and place the contraption in Puget Sound. Although simple in construction, this technique for capturing baby crab has been utilized successfully worldwide for a long time.

Fortunately for tribal biologists, once post-larval crabs are ready to settle, they will grab a hold of the first thing that provides enough texture for them to hold onto. By placing the scrubbers along the nearshore, the goal is to capture a subsample of the crab as they wash towards the shore to settle. Thus, with a little luck, when the buoy is pulled 24 hours later, there will be dozens of young Dungeness crabs larvae attached.

That’s the hope of Suquamish Tribe’s shellfish biologist Paul Williams, who is helping to recruit tribes, state and county agencies and volunteer groups to help collect the native crustaceans throughout Puget Sound. Williams is collaborating with Leif Rasmuson, the Skokomish Tribe’s shellfish management biologist, who wrote the initial project proposal and is managing the project in Hood Canal.

“By collecting crab larvae, shellfish managers hope to find out where they came from,” Williams said. “In their last larval stage, they are called megalops due to their huge eyes. At this stage, they grab on to anything they encounter in order to determine if it is a good place to transform to bottom-dwelling, juvenile crab.  So, we just put the scrubbers in their path and they grab on. Having collection stations throughout the region will bring in extensive data about the region’s fluctuating crab population and help us better manage the harvest.”

The focus of the project is the declining Dungeness crab population in Hood Canal. In 2008, there was a drop of 75 percent in the amount of crab caught in the area, down from 700,000 pounds in 2005.

The tribes want to know if the crab found in Hood Canal originated there or if they came from the Pacific Coast or other parts of Puget Sound.

“The current scientific literature has limited information regarding Hood Canal crabs, but the literature from other regions shows the distinct possibility that recruitment limitations could be a cause for the decline in the crab population that managers are observing in the canal,” Rasmuson said. “With any hope, this project will allow managers to gain insight into the early life stages of this commercially important species and help to determine how fluid populations are throughout the state.”

When crab eggs hatch, the larvae drift with tidal currents for up to six months before settling down to mature into adults in estuaries and other nearshore areas. Biologists hope to determine the source of the baby crab based on their size and when they settle in a specific location.

While this study is looking at natural fluctuation of larvae coming from outside Puget Sound, a number of factors may contribute to the decline including overfishing, low dissolved oxygen and disease.

Williams and Rasmuson are looking for volunteers in Hood Canal, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Admiralty Inlet, the San Juan Islands and Whidbey Basin. Detailed training sessions will be provided throughout Puget Sound. More information can be found at http://sites.google.com/site/megalopasite/.

Support for this project comes from King County, Suquamish Tribe, Skokomish Tribe, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Lower Elwha Tribe, Point No Point Treaty Council, Port Townsend Marine Science Center, Puget Sound Restoration Fund and Hood Canal Coordinating Council.

END

For more information, contact Paul Williams, Suquamish Tribe shellfish biologist at (360) 434-7432 or pwilliams@suquamish.nsn.us; Leif Rasmuson, Skokomish Tribe shellfish management biologist, at (360) 877-5213, ext  525 or lrasmuson@skokomish.org; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org.

GORST — Three years from now, anglers and tribal fishermen should be able to catch chinook salmon in Sinclair Inlet during July — a month earlier than they can now — thanks to a new hatchery program.

The Suquamish Tribe, which operates rearing ponds in Gorst, are releasing two stocks of chinook fry this year instead of one. The newly added fish, which originated at Minter Creek Hatchery in South Puget Sound, tend to return in July and August.

In a few years, fishermen might be able to hit the water for chinook in Sinclair Inlet a month earlier than they can now.

Hatchery chinook generally return to the inlet near Gorst in August and September. An effort to expand the run timing would have fish swimming into Sinclair Inlet in July.
As part of its annual spring release of juvenile chinook from the Gorst Hatchery, the tribe recently released 900,000 juvenile chinook, which are expected to return in July and August 2012. The tribe also released another 900,000 juvenile chinook that will return in August and September 2012.

The early returning fish are from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Minter Creek hatchery on Carr Inlet in South Sound; the later returning fish are from the tribe’s Grovers Creek hatchery in Indianola.

“When these fish return in three years, we want to see if we can have a longer fishing season in Sinclair Inlet by bring in an early-returning fish,” said Mike Huff, Gorst Hatchery manager.  “We have experienced good survival from the Grover’s Creek-timed fish we have been releasing for years – so some studies will be necessary to determine how well the Minter-timed fish perform at this location.

“These fish are for everyone, tribal and non-tribal fishermen,” he said. “The more we have, the better opportunities for all.”

Like all hatcheries that produce fish specifically for harvest, the Suquamish Tribe marks their hatchery chinook so they can be distinguished from their wild cousins. Puget Sound chinook and Hood Canal summer chum are listed at “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act.

“Isolated terminal fisheries in places like Sinclair Inlet, where abundant hatchery fish are not intermingled with natural runs, allows for the opportunity to take advantage of our enhancement efforts,” said Jay Zischke, the tribe’s fisheries management biologist. “By focusing our hatchery efforts in locations where wild fish are not, we can benefit from our investment while protecting weak wild runs.”

“By expanding the run timing, we’re hopefully going to be able to give both sport and treaty fishermen a longer season overall, and more opportunity for chinook fishing,” he said.

The Gorst facility is a partnership between the Suquamish Tribe, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the City of Bremerton and volunteer efforts by the Kitsap Poggie Club.

END

For more information, contact Jay Zischke, Suquamish Tribe fisheries management biologist, at (360) 394-8444 or jzischke@suquamish.nsn.us; Mike Huff,  hatchery manager, at (360) 394-8440 or mhuff@suquamish.nsn.us; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or troyal@nwifc.org.

The Peninsula Daily News wrote several articles, including this one discussing the recent letter sent from the tribes to various federal, state and county agencies explaining their concern.

This article covered a public meeting held June 15, which evolved into a lively discussion about issue at hand:

Kelly Toy, Jamestown S’Klallam tribe shellfish manager, indicated the tribes are taking a hard line on treaty rights.

“The tribes will not accept anything that is going to affect our tribal resources,” she said.

The Jamestown and Port Gamble S’Klallam tribes, making up the Point No Point Treaty Council, warned federal, state and county officials in a recent letter that the threatened closure of shellfish beds was an affront to their treaty rights.