Environmental Anth. and it's applications of today: Tulalip Tribes and Salmon

Indian tribes have always lived in the river valleys of what is now western Washington. As part of these ecosystems, they co-evolved with the natural resources of this area, their cultures centered on fishing, gathering and hunting. The tribes in Western Washington fish commercially, and for subsistence and ceremonial purposes. They fish for all species of salmon and steelhead in marine and freshwater areas of Puget Sound and the Washington coast. Today, the wild salmon upon which they have always depended are disappearing. More than a century of timber harvesting, dam construction, rapid population growth and other factors have destroyed and degraded important salmon spawning and rearing habitat. Past overharvest drove salmon populations lower.

NorthWest Indian Fisheries Commision

http://www.nwifc.org/fishmgmt/index.asp

Because many wild salmon runs are currently depressed or endangered, the hatchery returns are especially important to the Tulalip Tribes. The Tulalip Tribes are one of twenty Northwest tribes that have a fisheries program, and their program is considered by many to be one of the better-managed hatchery programs in the state. The main focus of the Tulalip Tribe’s hatchery program is to mimic, where possible, ecological conditions of the natural environment and to infuse the genetic constituents of local natural population, which has evolved with the natural habitat conditions in the Snohomish basin. The hatchery raises and releases three species of salmon, Coho, Chinook and chum, which are currently incubated and reared at the hatchery. Tulalip hatchery helps to preserve wild salmon runs through their hatchery practices. The long-term vision of the Tulalip Tribes is the restoration of wild salmon production to levels that will support fishing needs.

Tulalip Hatchery Link: http://www.tulalip.nsn.us/htmldocs/salmonhatchery.htm

All hatcheries, including Tulalip, are required by the government to mass-mark (clipping of adipose fin) their fish prior to its release. This process provides the fisherman with an easy way to tell the difference between the hatchery catch which they can keep, and wild salmon which must be thrown back in the water. Extensive handling, such as is required to “mass-mark” hatchery juvenile salmon, has been shown to increase the transmission of infectious disease agents in salmon. In fact it is well documented in the literature that handling juvenile salmon causes stress and abrasions to the fish that in turn increases the chances for them to contract infectious diseases. Recently the salmon returns have been negatively affected by bacterial diseases like BKD (Bacterial Kidney disease) and vibriosis. Tulalip Tribes Natural Resource department conducted the study to measure the potential of mass-marking to spread bacterial kidney disease and exacerbate vibriosis in Tulalip Chinook salmon during and after the marking procedure.