Spílyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
July 25, 2012
Pgge 7
Salmon Camp in August
Remembering when...
The Tribal Salmon Camp
this summer will be August 6-
10 near Pendleton. The
camp is a chance for youth
to:
Learn about the science
and lifecycle of salmon;
Work on salmon restora
tion projects, and explore
traditional ecological knowl
edge;
Meet tribal professionals
working in the field, and gain
unique and valuable hands-on
experience^
For more information con
tact Katherine Walker, tribal
workforce development co
ordinator, Columbia River
Inter-Tribal Fish Commis
sion.
She can be reached at 503-
238-0667.
Or email: walk@critfc.org
Go to www.critfc.org for
application materials.
Climate change affecting
Native communities
These photos are courtesy of Sam Kentura, from
a photo album kept by Martha Henning. How
many of these people do you recognize? (See the
next Spilyay for their names.)
Idaho, tribe break ground on sockeye hatchery
LEWISTON (AP) - For
m ore than two decades,
Idaho, ' the Shoshone-
Bannock Tribe and the fed
eral government have tried to
prevent the extinction o f
Snake River sockeye salmon.
Now the coalition is poised
to take what an Idaho Fish
and Game biologist calls a real
step toward recovery of the
highly endangered species.
The state broke ground ear
lier this month on the long-
planned Springfield Hatchery
near American Falls.
When finished sometime
next year, the hatchery is ex
pected to boost production
o f sockeye sm olts from
200,000 a year to more than
1 million, with the first release
of hatchery sockeye planned
for 2015.
“Springfield is going to al
low us the opportunity to get
these things out of the mu
seum,” said Jeff Heindel of
the Idaho D epartm ent of
Fish and Game, said.
collaboration of state, federal,
“We have spent 20 years and tribal scientists and
trying to prevent extinction ’policym akers,” said Bill
of the stock and to maintain Booth, one of Idaho's repre
genetic diversity o f the stock. sentatives on the power and
Only now are we going zto conservation council.
have the opportunity to make
Sockeye were the first spe
a step forward and try to re cies of Snake River anadro-
cover these fish,” he said.
mous fish to be protected by
The Northwest Power and theEndangered Species Act.
Conservation Cbuúcil signed They were listed in 1993 fol
o ff On the $13.5 million lowing the return of just ohe
hatchery set on the north fish, a male dubbed Lone
shore of American Falls Res some Larry in 1992. No fish
ervoir near the tiny town of made the 900-mile journey up
Springfield. The state re the Columbia, Snake and
ceived funding to build the Salmon rivers to Stanley Ba
hatchery in 2008 when it, sin in-1990.
other Northwest states and
The fish were put on life
most Columbia River treaty support after the listing and
tribes signed agreem ents all adults that returned suc
known as the Columbia River cessfully were spawned in
hatcheries. To boost the num
Fish Accords.
“This is an important step bers, most of the offspring
for our state and for the were kept in a captive breed
Northwest, as we are show ing program. Instead o f be
ing how a species on the brink ing released as smolts to be
of extinction can be restored gin a downriver journey to
through the dedication and ward the ocean, they were
raised in hatcheries to adult
hood and spawned artificially.
The state continued to breed
the fish in captivity and in
creasingly released more and
more smolts each year.
Over the past’several years
about 200,000 smolts have
been released to make their
way to the ocean. The in
creased hatchery program, in
combination with improved
ocean conditions and spill at
Snake River dams, led to in
creasing returns of the fish.
More than 900 fish have made
it at least as far as Lower Gran
ite Dam since 2008.
Heindel expects returns to
bounce between 500 to 1,500
over the next few years but
to jump up once Springfield
comes on line and the pro
duction of smolts jumps five
fold Or so. Eventually the
hope is the fish will become
re-established in the wild,
with many of the young fish
released in ,the Stanley Basin.
Alaskans wonder where the king salmon have gone
A NCHORAGE, Alaska
(AP) — Alaskans again this
sum m er are w ondering:
Where are the king salmon?
Some of Alaska’s largest
and best rivers are closed to
king fishing because state and
federal fisheries managers
have determ ined that the
largest of the salmon species,
also called Chinook, aren’t
showing up in enough num
bers to ensure sustainable
future runs.
In western Alaska, people
living in dozens o f villages
along the Yukon and
Kuskokwim rivers are turn
ing to less desirable salmon
species— fish with lower oil
and fat content—to fill their
freezers for winter in what
one official described as a
summer of “food insecurity.”
“It is pretty scary,” said
Timothy Andrew, director of
natural resources with the
Association of Village Coun
cil Presidents in Bethel. “Chi
nook salmon is probably the
biggest species that people
depend on for drying, salting
and p u ttin g away in the
freezer to feed the family
throughout the winter.”
Fishery managers predict
that this year’s Yukon River
king salmon run will be worse
than last year, and that was
the worst showing for Chi
nook in 30 years.
Commercial fishermen on
the Yukon and Kuskokwim
are turning to. less desirable
but more plentiful species of
salmon that sell for under $1
a pound. King salmon sells for
more than $5 a pound. With
gas costing $6.70 a gallon in
Bethel, many fishing boats
are sitting idle, he said.
People living in the region’s
56 villages are devastated,
Andrew said.
“It is an incredibly stress
ful time,” he said.
In mid-July, the Kenai
River— considered by many
to be Alaska’s premier river
for salmon fishing—-is nor
mally crowded and chaotic
with fishing guides steering
their boats to give their cli
ents the best opportunity to
catch a trophy king.
But a ban on king fishing
on the Kenai and Kasilof riv
ers went into effect Thursday.
Robert Begich, the Alaska
D ep artm en t o f Fish and
Game's area management bi
ologist, said the Kenai king run
looks to be the lowest on
record going back to the
1980s.
While the continued down
ward trend in kings isn’t clear,
Begich suspects a combina
tion of factors, with research
ers looking more closely at
changes in the ocean environ
ment. King salmon usually
spend several years in the
ocean before returning to riv-
ers to spawn.
Ray Beamesderfer, a con
sultant with Cramer Fish Sci
ences in Gresham, Ore., also
suspects changes in the ma
rine environm ent. He
thought he and his family
would be fishing for king
salmon on the Kenai River on
Thursday. Instead, they were
casting for rainbow trout or
smaller sockeye salmon.
Beamesderfer said in the
late 1970s, there was a change
in ocean currents that fa
vored Alaska salmon but con
tributed to poor salmon runs
in the Pacific Northwest.
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Native American and Alaska
Native leaders told of their
villages being under water
because of coastal erosion,
droughts and more last week
during a Senate hearing in
tended to draw attention to
how climate change is affect
ing tribal communities.
T he
environm ental
changes being seen in native
communities are “a serious
and growing issue and Con
gress needs to address them,”
Tex Hall, chairman o f the
Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara
Nation of New Town, N.D.,
said Wednesday.
Mike Williams, chief of
the Yupit Nation in Akiak,
Alaska, said in the informa
tional Senate Indian Affairs
Committee hearing, that vil
lages are literally being wiped
out by coastal erosion. Will
iams said he can cast a net
and catch salmon at his child
ho o d hom e because the
home is under water, he said.
He also described how the
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race,
in which he participates, has
been moved because o f lack
o f snowfall and that dogs
must run at night to stay cool.
“We’ve always lived off the
land and off the waters and
continue to do that. But we’re
bearing the burden of living
with these conditions today,”
Williams said.
.Sen. Daniel Akaka, com
mittee chairman, acknowl
edged that environm ental
changes are widespread, buti
the Hawaii Democrat said
native communities are dis
proportionately impacted be
cause they depend on nature
for traditional food, sacred
sites, and for cultural ceremo
nies. Several tribes already are
coming up with plans to adapt
to the changes and federal
agencies are assisting with re-!
sources, Akaka said.
Members of several West
C oast trib es and Alaska!
communities have been in
Washington this week for a
sym posium
at
the!
Sm ithsonian In stitu tio n ’s;
N atio n al M useum o f the
American Indian on the im -!
pact o f climate change on
indigenous people and their
communities.
T he sym posium , titled
First Steward, brought to-;
gether tribal leaders, people1
experiencing the changes and
scientists.
Tribes protest state
decision on Klamath dams
KLAMATH, Calif. (AP)-
Two N o rth e rn California
Native American tribes are
protesting a decision by state
officials to p o stp o n e the
relicensing process for four
hydroelectric dams on the
Klamath River.
The Hobpa and Resighini
tribes are u p set over the
unanimous vote by the State
Water Resources C ontrol
Board to put the process on
hold for another year.
The tribes want the dams
to undergo the Clean Water
Act certification process, so
their o.wner, Portland-based
utility PacifiCorp, will be
forced to remove toxic algae
and make it easier for fish to
travel.
“The initial dam license
was issued 50 years ago, at
which time they had no envi
ronmental laws,” said Hayley
H u tt, a m em ber o f the
Hoopa Valley Tribal Council
member. “To be licensed,
they’d have to meet the new
water quality laws.”
PacifiCorp officials say it
doesn’t make sense to go
through the costly rehcensing
process because the dams
could be removed in 2020
under the Klamath Hydro
electric Settlement Agree
ment.
Federal lawmakers have
introduced legislation that
would allow the U.S. Interior
Department to determine if
the dams should be taken
down. PacifiCorp officials
are frustrated with the fed
eral government’s pace, but
the company is already col
lecting money from energy!
customers to pay for dam
removal activities, company
spokesman Bob Gravely said.
He added the company can’t
charge its customers to both
upgrade the dams and re
move them.
“We’re not going to carry
out relicensing steps that
would add a bunch of addi
tional costs,” Gravely said.
"Just because Congress hasn’t
passed legislation at this point
is no reason to put the brakes
in place.”