Last week, representatives from Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission member tribes and the Puget Sound Partnership participated in the annual Puget Sound Day on the Hill, where they advocated directly with lawmakers about the need for federal funding to recover Puget Sound.
“In the Northwest, fisheries and shellfish are important. They’re our way of life. It’s critically important to us,” said W. Ron Allen, Chairman and CEO of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.
Allen spoke on a panel dedicated to the importance of clean water and healthy habitat to the fishing industry.
“Every tribe has a river. We all take care of our backyard. That’s what we do,” he said during the panel.
The five-day event brought together representatives from nonprofits, local governments and businesses as well as the Puget Sound Partnership, a state agency formed to restore and protect Puget Sound.
“It’s a collaboration of folks across all spectrums in our state,” said NWIFC executive director Justin Parker.
Puget Sound restoration work helps species such as salmon and southern resident orcas, but it’s also an economic engine, sustaining about 6,700 jobs and generating $1.6 billion in economic output each year.
While a great deal of effort has been put in to restore the Sound, much more is needed to keep it—and the economies and lives it sustains—healthy in the years to come.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Parker said.
Tribal representatives take a brief break from meetings in Washington D.C. during the 2026 Puget Sound Day on the Hill. From left: Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Executive Director Justin Parker, NWIFC Legislative Analyst Sheyanne Lewis, Puyallup Tribe of Indians Fisheries Resource Policy Representative Rodney Sission, NWIFC Chairman Ed Johnstone, NWIFC Commissioner Randy Harder and NWIFC Treasurer Joe Peters.
