70 



Social Value« Connected with Fishing 

 Tribal Fishing 



The Tribes' fishing rights are indispensable to maintaining a cohesive tribal 

 society. Twp tribes fish the Grays Harbor Basin; the Quinault Indian Nation 

 and the Chehalis Indian Tribe. Their goal iB to perpetuate their salmon- 

 dependent culture and promote the economic welfare of their members. 



River Sport Fishing 



The Chehalis and its primary tributaries downstream of Porter support a 

 significant Bport fishery. The Washington Department of Fisheries recently 

 emphasized sport fisheries while maintaining, but not increasing, commercial 

 fisheries (WDF 1991). However, under the present management scheme there is 

 little fishing opportunity upriver from Porter, where there were once larger 

 runs of all species. River sport fishing is an i m p ort ant cultural interest of 

 Basin residents so there is high interest in restoring fishing opportunity. 

 Public participation in fishery enhancement projects seems motivated as much 

 by civic pride and commitment to the local community as by expectation of 

 economic development. 



Marine Fishing 



•u> mora* oouria nau. mrroter 



LluElli 



■port THIT8 orr nasntai cotjrt 



t „. 



llilUilll 



Many of the Basin's families are 

 connected to fishing. The 

 community of Westport, in 

 particular, is based on ocean 

 fishing with success tied directly 

 to the size of health of fish 

 runs. Charterboat and ocean troll 

 fishing has decreased statewide 

 (Figure 4) along with reduced 

 seasons. However, groups 

 representing both these interests 

 have promoted rebuilding Grays 

 Harbor stocks, even though they 

 often harvest mostly Columbia 

 River fish. In 1991, charterboats 

 began fishing inside Grays Harbor 

 to exploit the very abundant 

 Chehalis coho run of that year 

 (Mark Cedergreen, Westport Charter 

 Association, pers. coram. ) . 



Figure 4. Washington ocean salmon fiihing effort (PFMC 1992). 



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