I posted this on another earlier thread. I found it on iFish:

Quote:

This is a loser for the nonIndian fisheries in Puget Sound.

Haven't you folks ever wondered why say, in the Columbia the tribes get about 10 to 14x the ESA impacts on spring Chinook, or sockeye, or steelhead?

The reason is that's essentially the law. In the mid 90's the US government clarified how federal tribal trust responsibility intersected with ESA: http://www.fws.gov/endangered/what-w...ial-order.html

It states this: "Accordingly, the Departments will carry out their responsibilities under the Act in a manner that harmonizes the Federal trust responsibility to tribes, tribal sovereignty, and statutory missions of the Departments, and that strives to ensure that Indian tribes do not bear a disproportionate burden for the conservation of listed species, so as to avoid or minimize the potential for conflict and confrontation."

Essentially, the feds have to err on the side of the tribes. You could add that portions of the Boldt decision (the major decision affecting Puget Sound salmon fisheries) also directs that the tribal fisheries are the last to close. Folks can get bent out of shape by this, but its all case law that's been in place for close to 40 yrs now. Plus its how fisheries have been set for decades now. Good luck going it alone, as NOAA already went on the record saying it would be near impossible for nontribal fisheries to get approval w/out agreement with the tribes back in January: http://www.pcouncil.org/wp-content/u..._MAR2016BB.pdf