FY 14 Skokomish Environmental and Recovery Planning

Project provided partial support for one Skokomish Natural Resources Department staff position – the Fisheries Policy Representative. Broad arenas for the representative included direction of local salmon recovery planning including participation on the Cushman Fisheries and Habitat Committee which aims, in part, to reintroduce spring Chinook into the Skokomish River. The individual also provided policy oversight for the Tribe during the annual North of Falcon and Pacific Salmon Treaty processes which are vital parts of the management of salmon.

This project provided vital tribal staff support for policy level engagement to ensure hatchery, harvest and habitat related actions are implemented complementary to one another in support of treaty fishing rights.

The Skokomish Tribe is leading the effort to recover salmon populations in the Skokomish River and throughout its ‘Usual and Accustomed’ area in the Hood Canal region. This enormously complex effort requires collaboration with multiple federal, state, and county agencies, and citizen interest groups. The policy representative provides essential liaison among these agencies and the Natural Resources Department who carry out the recovery effort. Having this person on staff increases efficiency and improves communication among tribal planners and other resource management staff.

This project address factors limiting the productivity of ESA-listed Pacific salmonids as specified in the Skokomish River Recovery Plan (2010). The Puget Sound Chinook Harvest Management Plan (2010) defines actions with an immediate focus on early-timed Chinook while considering options for the recovery of late-timed Chinook. Future options for the recovery of a late-timed population depend upon the success of efforts to recover early-timed Chinook. Until the habitat is recovered, hatcheries, specifically the proper management of salmonids produced by them, can provide harvest benefits while the rehabilitation of the ecosystem occurs.