Based on spawner surveys conducted by WDFW, the escapement of chum tot he Snohomish River has been increasing by an average of 1% per year since 1983. When you realize that this is multiplicative, the increase over that period of time is fairly substantial. Formerly, WDFW etablished fixed escapement goal (28,000 for even years; 10,300 for odd years) for the Snohomish system. However I, as a tribal biologist, along with other management biologists realized that these goals were too low. So we changed the management goal to a fixed exploitation rate instead of a fixed escapement goal. The result was the increasing escapement alluded to above. The average escapement tot he Snohomish system for the past 4 odd years was 52,000 (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005) and for the past 4 even years 120, 739 (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006). This latter average includes a very low number of 20,000 for 2000, so the other years were quite high.

The commercial fishery you are seeing this year is being managed on the basis of the fixed exploitation rate, projected catches are well below what would be allowed under that rate, and projected escapement to the Snohomish is currently 58,000, assuming that all the harvestable fish are taken, which is at the upper end of what is likely to happen (in other words, the most likely scenario is that less than the full harvestable number will be taken). Keep in mind, please that this projected escapement is over 5 times the old WDFW fixed escapement goal for chum in the Snohomish system. Also, please keep in mind that Pacific salmon are highly variable in numbers, so we could be up or down on this number when the fish are finally counted. But for chum salmon in north sound rivers, the trends are clear, and up.

If people on this board are interested in the facts and interested in talking to managers, I'd be happy to oblige. But in return, I expect that I, my tribal fishermen, the non-tribal commercial fishermen, and all of us who work hard to manage this resource will be treated with respect. It only seems fair to me. Thanks.