Osprey,

Not sure what Quinault Tribal policy is, but many of the treaty tribes allow their fishermen to sell "private, over the bank" fish sales to try and fetch a higher price than paid by commercial buyers. First, they are required to bring the catch by a tribal sampling station, or samplers go directly to fishing sites - the practice varies, so that the fish are counted and weighed and entered on the state/tribal commercial fish tickets. This gets the fish accounted and into the catch data system. Roughly the same process applies to non-treaty commercial fishermen who keep part of their catch, either for personal use or personal over the bank sales. This is not to say that no fisherman ever breaks the rules, but essentially the same law applies to treaty and non-treaty fishermen alike.

If you're wondering if there is an incentive to cheat, there is, but it's not the treaty/non-treaty allocation that you might be thinking. The state has a landing tax on non-treaty commercial catch, and many tribes have a landing tax on treaty commercial catch. The tax rates vary from 1 to 5%, usually, so it's not a huge incentive, but you know how people are about paying taxes, so if they think they can dodge it, they may try.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.