Goharley,

- Thread hijack -

Tribal enforcement enforces tribal regulations. Any enforcement officer, federal, state, or tribal, may take enforcement action against a suspected treaty fishing violation by a treaty fisherman. Generally, the citation is transfered to the appropriate tribal court system for processing. WDFW only refers such citations to the state court system when it has evidence that previous citations were not reasonably processed by tribal courts.

Any enforcement officer can seize illegal fishing gear, like an unattended gillnet, because the operator of the gear is unknown. If the violator is not a treaty Indian, only state and federal agents can cite him or her. Tribal enforcement is limited to actions toward treaty fishermen of the same tribe. There are only a few cases where tribal enforcement officers are cross-deputized with local law enforcement organizations.

Tribal officers are limited in the actions they can take on non-tribal violators even on reservations, according to a federal court ruling from the 80s. Maybe Todd recalls the details. However, I wouldn't recommend that a non-Indian attempt any law violations on an Indian reservation; they would probably still make your life pretty miserable while waiting for non-tribal backup.

I hope that helps clarify law enforcement issues, but now I'm not so sure . . .

Sincerely,

Salmo g.