Treaty tribes in western Washington are having a bountiful Fraser River sockeye fishery this season, with at least three times the number of fish returning as expected. More than 30 million sockeye are estimated to return to the Fraser River in British Columbia this year – the highest run size recorded since 1913.

View photos of the fishery in the San Juan Islands on NWIFC’s Flickr…

About 170 wild turkeys were released into a meadow on the Tulalip Tribes reservation in August with the hope they will sustain a harvestable population.

“Tribal hunters don’t have the same access to nutritious protein that they once had,” said Ray Fryberg Sr., fish and wildlife director for the Tulalip Tribes. “Populations of deer and elk have declined and they’re running out of decent habitat.”

A…

The Squaxin Island Tribe is spreading oyster shells on a handful of intertidal beaches in a hunt for the offspring of a tiny, rare, native oyster. This fall, tribal researchers will come back to see if any young Olympia oysters have attached themselves to the shells.

Like other shellfish, Olympia oysters are broadcast spawners. Young oysters float on the tide until they settle…