Free: Contests & Raffles.
For the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, the city of Seattle’s hydroelectric dams on the upper Skagit River have caused harm to tribal members, its collective tribal culture and the the tribe’s spiritual beliefs.While lawsuits the tribe filed last year against Seattle regarding fish passage and what it believes is the city providing false information play out in county and federal courts, the tribe has filed a third lawsuit in Sauk-Suiattle Tribal Court to address its concerns over what it calls natural law.According to the lawsuit, natural laws are unwritten and found instead in values, beliefs, practices, customs and traditions practiced and passed on through language, stories, songs, dances, ceremonies and the leadership of elders. According to the lawsuit, the three dams in Seattle’s Skagit River Hydroelectric Project were built without consultation with the tribe, inundated sites of cultural significance to the tribe, impeded salmon from advancing up the Skagit River, and resulted in a loss of spawning and rearing habitat for salmon throughout the watershed.The lawsuit says that Seattle’s assertion that fish never migrated above its dams conflicts with longstanding tribal histories shared verbally throughout generations, and that the city’s insistence that the struggles of Skagit River salmon have to do with overfishing and estuary habitat has caused strife in the community, including a devaluing of local tribes and harassment of tribal members.
I love it! Seattle being the environmental, cultural inclusive city being sued by the Tribes! It doesnt get any better IMO.Perhaps they can install one of those new Whoosh salmon cannons!
Same answer after looking at the video.
So lets just say for arguments sake that Seattle City Light is correct and salmon couldnt het past the damn.The environmental compassionate, culturally inclusive city is willing to piss away 230 million a year on NOT fixing the homeless problem... Howevery they are too cheap to expand the potential spawning grounds of salmon? What about the starving orcas? What about tribes? I mean come on you arnt willing to spread some cheddar around for all the things you profess to embrace? Dosnt seem very inclusive to me! Not willing to put you money where your mouth is?
The video I posted really doesn’t actually show the height and force of the water coming down that narrow gap, and the Skagit doesn’t thru there at all unless they are releasing overflow water.It goes thru the mountain in a tunnel out the power house in Newhalem.😉
So nobody wants to discuss the elephant in the room? I cut my teeth fishing winter Steelhead on the Skagit, have ran the entire river at one point or another, and have fished every species it has to offer. In the late 70's and early 80's, the gravel bars between Lyman and Concrete were piled two feet high with Chum carcasses when fishing for Winter Steelhead. The run averaged 250,000 each year. Through the 50's and 60's, native winter Steelhead numbers were huge; sportsmen would average 20,000 or more each year. There were at least 15 guides working the river when I fished it. Today, less the 25,000 Chum make it up the river, and native winter Steelhead are almost gone. Yes, poor logging practices didn't help, but that really isn't as much of an issue today. The 5 different Tribes that fish the Skagit are only doing what they have been allowed to do, but blaming the dams for the decline is laughable and absurd. Those dams were there long before the decline in runs. It's not that I am against re-introduction above the dams, if indeed there were fish spawning in those areas, but the gorge is as close to a physical barrier as I have seen, given the amount of water that would flow down it unrestricted.
Today, less the 25,000 Chum make it up the river, and native winter Steelhead are almost gone. Yes, poor logging practices didn't help, but that really isn't as much of an issue today. The 5 different Tribes that fish the Skagit are only doing what they have been allowed to do, but blaming the dams for the decline is laughable and absurd. Those dams were there long before the decline in runs. It's not that I am against re-introduction above the dams, if indeed there were fish spawning in those areas, but the gorge is as close to a physical barrier as I have seen, given the amount of water that would flow down it unrestricted.
Quote from: Fishmaker57 on February 16, 2022, 10:15:49 AMToday, less the 25,000 Chum make it up the river, and native winter Steelhead are almost gone. Yes, poor logging practices didn't help, but that really isn't as much of an issue today. The 5 different Tribes that fish the Skagit are only doing what they have been allowed to do, but blaming the dams for the decline is laughable and absurd. Those dams were there long before the decline in runs. It's not that I am against re-introduction above the dams, if indeed there were fish spawning in those areas, but the gorge is as close to a physical barrier as I have seen, given the amount of water that would flow down it unrestricted. So are you solely blaming the Natives for Skagit River's salmon and steelhead decline?- Our nearby international waters have unrestricted salmon fishing from Asian countries - Derelict nets litter river mouths from idiots throwing hay bails down the river- We have an overpopulation of pinnipeds- Our river levels are lowering and water temperatures rising- We have lost the majority of our spawning and rearing habitat- The natural flow of the river is completely altered- There are 3 dams blocking sensational spawning grounds if they can be reached- Non-Native commercial fishing netsTo call the Natives the sole cause of salmon decline is ignorant when any one of the reasons above could be solely blamed. In all likelihood:; however, it is a combination of multiple reasons. It is scary how many problems our salmon face and is really a miracle they still exist. The amount of fish that Natives take is dismal compared to the amount of salmon taken from reasons listed above.Can you blame the Natives for wanting fish runs like we/they had? I know I want more fish!
The issue is not just fish passage through the canyon. The dams block the movement of gravel and woody debris below them. There is almost no spawning habitat from the dams all the way down to Bacon Creek. Another issue is how the irregular flow through the dams dewaters spawning beds below. It's complicated.
Whoosh the bill right to the power companies who have profited on the destruction of our fishing resource.
Solely? No, as you stated there are other mitigating factors, but they Tribes are the only ones drift netting the Chum on the Skagit for an egg fishery. I have witnessed this many times. They throw the dead males overboard, strip the females eggs, then throw theater carcass in the river. This may be a past practice now, but it was rampant in years past. Yes, we have an over population of pinnipeds, and open ocean commercial fishing is an issue, but based on their locations, they don't impact Chum or Steelhead as much as Chinook and Sockeye. Again, I agree there is habitat above the blocked area, but IF Salmon and Steelhead ever existed in those locations, it's a moot point. The flow of the river has actually improved due to flow requirements included in the last relicensing effort. The habitat, due to the placement of woody debris and rearing side channels, is as good as it's ever been in the last 50 years. In a large part, the Tribes are behind this effort as well, and I am glad they are working every angle to restore runs, but overfishing in the river has played a large part of the decline. Non-native commercial fishing opportunities are so limited in Puget Sound that it really doesn't factor into the discussion. I am not ignorant of any of these points, as I have spent the last 32 years involved in Salmon and Steelhead every day.
