Joe Peters, harvest management biologist for the Squaxin Island Tribe, posts up about how tribal chum management works in deep South Sound:
While Non-Tribal fleet, recreational and our neighboring Tribes to the north are fishing, the extreme terminal Tribes are relying on chum making it to the streams to spawn (escapement). Squaxin Chum fisheries are based on escapement of Fall Chum runs into the Deep South Sound inlets. To ensure our local Fall Chum stocks reach escapement goals, Squaxin Natural Resources and WDFW staff conducts stream surveys to count spawning chum. These stream counts along with the Squaxin Island Tribe’s attentively timed fisheries allows for regional escapement to be met. Squaxin bears the burden of escapement of chum in our streams.
The post includes some pretty interesting charts spelling out how harvest relates to fish making it into the stream and how salmon harvest impacts the tribe’s economy. Pretty interesting stuff.
