Suquamish Tribe FY 2022 Salmonid Recovery Planning and Coordination

This project continues the Suquamish Tribe’s focus on salmon recovery planning, coordination, and project implementation within its Usual and Accustomed Fishing Area (U&A). This project focuses on coordinating the implementation of 1) local chapters of the Puget Sound Chinook Salmon Recovery Plan and Puget Sound Steelhead Recovery Plan; 2) strategies and actions addressing factors affecting abundance, productivity, spatial structure, and diversity of salmon and steelhead populations important to the exercise of the Suquamish Tribe’s treaty rights; and 3) the development of the East Kitsap Steelhead Monitoring Plan, which will be a particular emphasis this year.

The goal is to maintain the Tribe’s participation in salmon recovery planning and implementation. The project purpose is well coordinated salmon recovery efforts in East Kitsap. The expected benefit is more effective protection and restoration of freshwater, estuarine, and nearshore habitat necessary to support recovery of listed salmonids and to prevent future ESA listings. An additional goal is to develop the East Kitsap Steelhead Monitoring Plan with the purpose to outline the framework and specific metrics for evaluating progress toward recovery of East Kitsap Steelhead. The expected benefits of developing the monitoring plan are to have the means of understanding what actions are beneficial to recovery and what additional or different actions may be needed.