I wonder if the Suquamish's mascot is Hershal?!?!?!?!?!?

Maybe folks should start getting serious about joining the RFA and contributing to the new Sportsfishing PAC....We need major clout in Olympia and in Washington DC...

I just spoke with a friend of mine who takes his boat thru the locks about 3 times per week & he speaks to the lock operators regularly about the nets. The indians, as far as he knows, have netted only one day for their "cerimonial" allotment. He hasn't seen the nets since.

But, he adds, when the season opens up, the net every square inch from the mouth of the locks, gas works park, montlake cut, lake, everything. The nets stretch 3/4 of the way across in zig zag pattern as to prevent any fish from making it through.

Grandpa,

I didn't say that the tribes weren't netting at all, I was saying that the 80 boats the Muckleshoots have getting ready according to the article probably won't net until the season is announced.

I don't think 80 gillnet boats could fit into the area below the locks. Your pic only shows 1?

Hey, I dislike the idea of netting and unfair allocations as much as the next guy. I just didn't want this thread to degrade into another witch hunt before the REAL facts are known.

This BS happens every sockeye year, cerimonial and subsistance fishing my arse. Supposed to be taking only 3000 fish RIGHT. Last time they had 4 tractor trailers waiting to be loaded. I bet these fish don't count twords the total count.

Sportsfisherman are getting the shaft because we are disorganized.

For those of you who care about this problem (or any other issue) and feel like we our politicians don't care, you need to join RFA and sponsor the Washington Sportfishing PAC.

The tribes and commercial fisherman have sponsored their favorite candidates for years and now have a sympathetic congress. These organizations are a tool to get the politicians on our side...which is our only hope for ending the insanity.

I made the comments about the 80 boats and I would make a good bet that even we the fisherman get a fishery, the indians will net and take their 50%+.
What about the fact that Safeway has partnered up with the Muckleshoots and will be buying all the fish they catch, doesn't that rub you the wrong way?

"What about the fact that Safeway has partnered up with the Muckleshoots and will be buying all the fish they catch, doesn't that rub you the wrong way?"

As long as those fish sold to Safeway are part of the Muckleshoot's legally allotted 50% of the total harvest and NOT one fish more... Then no.

Safeway will buy them somewhere in order to satisfy market demand, so I think I'd rather they came from the artificially propogated Lk. WA run than from say... the endangered Stuart river early run in BC.

I just got back from the grocery store. It wasn't Safeway.

I keep hearing about this 50%. With the fox in charge of the hen house (so to speak) my guess would be 70 to 90% in some areas at the very least.
I have seen to much, to believe that the tribes even care about percentages as have most of you board members.
It would really put my mind at ease to see an accurate fish count of what the tribes really take in numbers of fish but as far as as I know, they are their own police. when was the last time you saw an article in the paper about an Indian getting a fine for keeping too many fish?
for snagging?
For fishing during a closed season?
I did talk to an Indian "Fisherman"
who was netting a small creek a few years ago, who said he got arrested by the feds who had set up a sting operation and he sold fish to wrong people. He thought it was really funny that he got caught with just a slap on the wrist.
Don't get me wrong, I know there are crooks on both sides of the fence but Somebody show me an accurate account of 50%.
I really don't believe that little johnny snagging fish on the skok or where ever takes those fish to the tribe and says I got 15 fish today please add them to our 50% quota.
Ramprat

FishNphysician, have either of these guys written about any of this type of behavior before? Tribal netting and fisheries management have been off hands for years with these papers, I would truely like to see someone write something near the truth about the tribes lack of interest in our fisheries health.
Fishy...........

Dont go to the casino! I think that is the only real leverage we have. They make too much money gaming to to risk any kind of bad exposure. Any good ideas on how to start a negative publicity campain???

That photo would make a good start toward some bad publicity.....

Where's Hershal when you need 'em? How would the natives deal with that pesky varmint if he was messing up their "net and keep" fishery?

I never would want to lose a single fish to one of those salmon eaters, but it would be entertaining to know a few fish were lucky enough to be chased around and past the nets.

I've spent a grand total of $20 at the Muckelshoot casino and as far as I'm concerned that's $20 too much. Just walking around the card tables watching all the chips move in one direction was enough to turn me off.

A couple of years ago up in BC some folks decided that they wanted to clean a river out of all nets. So to make a story short, under the cover of darkness they dumped blackberry bushes into the river, tangling the nets and rendering them unusable. But naturally the government was coerced into replacing all losses including any monetary setbacks.

Now don't get any ideas

Hey Grandpa

I would rather propose that all the tribes dip net their fish from the fish ladder in the middle of the day. Provide a full time fish checker to count fish of better yet install sonar counters in the ladders to get an accurate count of returning fish. No more netting outside the locks with the endangered Chinook bycatch. No more catch the fish before they are counted and no more over harvest in the middle of the night. Get some accountability into our fisheries. Get it all out in the open. Base the division of the harvest on real facts.

Grampa, that must have been quite a slumber to have had a dream like that, but then of course you woke up and reality slapped you in the face. Along with all of us sports fishers.


Fishy..

BEAUTIFUL IDEA GRANDPA!! Has anyone proposed this to the State? How would we propose something like this? Is it feasible? What type of rebuttal would the Natives have?