Right on, A permit is required for any kind of a demonstration. And getting the press/media involved could be a good thing; cheap publicity. During the 70's there were fish-ins to sway public opinion in behalf of the tribes treaty rights to fish. Then came Judge George Boldt.
As to paying the tribes not to fish, I dont think anyone is questioning their traditional right for subsistence fishing. What is at issue here is the commercial aspect of their fishery.
Even $1.25 per lb is ok, wouldnt break the back of the federal treasury, and since the treaties are federal, the funds should be, too. But the concept gets expensive with matching funds for enforcement, and matching funds for drug interdiction. Among the people Ive talked to, the concensus is that most of the individual profit from tribal fishing is spent for recreational substance abuse.
There are more issues at stake here than simply not fishing. And anything that is done has to be done in the spirit of a mutually agreeable / acceptable offering, with honor and dignity to the tribes and for the white immigrants. It will take reasoning and wisdom beyond my own capabilities, and beyond anything heretofore demonstrated in this society.
Where the real problem (as I see it)lies here is not so much among the domestic fisheries, tribal or white, but in the international high seas fishery where all species are indiscriminately killed and sent to the Asian markets, and who are not vested in any program to sustain the fishery. We feed them with our fish for free. That's where the US has to make a stand, and it wont be easy.
Alright, I'll get off my soapbox for now.