There is a few new anti-Indian netting threads on the BB here. I have been staying out of them this time, because of poor response to past solution suggestions. But in one of the new threads I got asked my opinion, and gave the following information. I'm putting it to a separate thread for others to see. It is a better solution than hay bales, but I'm not going to tell you that those won't help because I don't know; it could bring media attention to growing discontent over non-adhered to mandates. See below for a better way than that though. ... Here is why much of what's going on is allowed by government. And what you can and should do about it. >

The Treaties signed with the Columbia Tribal Indians in the 1800's, and most of the Treaties signed with individual tribes in the state of Washington in the 1800's, called for salmon and steelhead runs to be "shared in common with", between Indians and non-Indains. Many non-Indians considered this to mean fishing for them in a like manner and the same amount of fish per person. Many Inidans considered otherwise. Yet they were allowed via these treaties to fish in an accustomed manner - which was with mostly dipnets, and also some canoe set crude river nets. Both sides have since then contended they were not getting their fair shares of fish by Treay laws signed. So the NW states and Columbia tribes and Washington tribes went to landmark Federal Court cases in the early 70's. Judge Belloni presiding over the Columbia case and Judge Boldt over the Washington cases. Both cases and rulings came down alike - Federal Court mandates that the fish deemed harvestable (salmon and steelhead getting enough escapement to sustain the run; the rest deemed havestable) were to be split evenly - 50/50. This is still Federal law. It also mandated that if one party got more fish one year then the other party get more thte next to make up for it. The dams that both parties used, and are still using, were not considered part of the 50/50 split for the fish they impeded.

Yet under the more recent threat by the tribes that they will sue the government to have all Columbia and Snake dams removed (their behind the scenes trump card - because of fear there's an outside chance they could win such a suit, that would economically devistate our region), the U.S. Dept. of the Interior came out under this pressure to issue Secretarial Order No. 3206, which states that in times of limited harvest the Indian tribes will be the last to be restricted from harvest of fish. Since the advent of the ESA, all harvests are limited hence forth. Unfair! This Order has been the machine that has driven the NMFS (National Marine Fishery Services) to over-ride Federal law in favor of the Tribes. And now in times of plenty they are giving the Columbia Tribal Commissioned net fisheries a very unfair 6 1/2 times higher quota of spring chinook, followed by attempts to close the fall chinook Columbia sportfishery altogether, so the tribes could have bigger shares of the ESA impact (Fed. Endagered Species Act protection of wild fish) in their netting harvests; which kill native fish while we release non finclipped native fish!

At the start of the new millenium, this caused the states of Oregon and Washington into a joint lawsuit against the NMFS and Tribes to get a fairer share of the ESA impact affected allocation of fish deemed harvestable for the sportfishers. It was settled out of court by getting the "Unfair Pair" (NMFS/Tribes) to allow a fall salmon sportfishery in the Columbia and by allowing the non-Indian ESA fishing impact to go up from 0.9% to 2% (which was 1% for commercial non-indian netters/ocean trollers and 1% for sportfishers). BUT, they would only go along with the increase to 2% if the Indians got an increase from 8% ESA impact in 2000 to the 13% ESA impact in 2001; and they got it! How could they get away with this genuine fiasco? Along with many unfair complexities, the main trump card is the threatened law suits to take out all the dams! It appears the Indians have our weak administration by the balls! It is a similar situation in Washington state, due to many other complexities in addition to No. 3206 out of Wash, DC. The WDFW also has a weak administration in dealing with allocation of fish. I must also say they are very weak in dealing with non-Indian snagging and litering too; as is Oregon. >

What can the hundreds of thousands of NW sportfishers do about this? Again - write letters using this info in my post here and from other's posts to your reps, asking Federal and state legislators to enact a modern justifiable law that prevents an Indian lawsuit to take down all the dams. And for them to circumvent the wrongful Dept. of the Interior Sec. Order No. 3206, so that we get our Federally mandated 50% share of the fish! That WE pay for. It can't hurt to mention in your letters that the Indians have been using electricity from these dams for as long as non-Indians have. And at a very high rate in the brightly lighted Indian gambling casinos, which were allowed to the Indians partly in compensation for lost fish income potential. These are very highly profitable! In fact, enough so that it's allowed the Indians to become big campaign contibuting constiuents to politicians in Wash, DC. The only way to get back our rightful fish is a huge letter campaign outlining these things, and that we are ready to vote in politicians that will get this back to the Federal Court mandated 50/50 even split. Go do it this time!

RT

[ 01-21-2002: Message edited by: RT ]