Billy Frank Jr., chairman of the NWIFC, wrote recently in the Daily Astorian that fisheries management through the ballot should be rejected:
Harvest must be managed on the basis of fishery impacts from all fishing methods, both sport and commercial. We ask that the two states respect our tribal sovereignty and treaty rights to allow us to all work together to gauge any impacts those changes may have on our tribal fisheries.
After decades of hard work, cooperative salmon restoration efforts in the Columbia basin are starting to make a difference. Spring chinook, fall chinook, sockeye and coho numbers are improving. That kind of success doesn’t happen on its own. It comes from a shared willingness of many people to work together toward the common goal of conserving, protecting and restoring salmon populations on the Columbia and throughout the Pacific Northwest.
