Indians have treaty 

 rights to catch salmon for 

 cultural and religious cer- 

 emonies, for sale and to 

 feed their families. 



Beginning about the 

 mid- 1800s, commercial 

 salmon harvesters steadily 

 increased their catch. Fish 

 wheels, nets and traps took 

 large numbers of salmon 

 out of the Columbia to 

 supply the booming can- 

 ning industry. Harvesters 

 took so many salmon that 

 by the 1 870s there already 

 was concern for the future 

 of the runs, and the first 

 salmon hatcheries were 

 built. 



Th 



here has 

 been no 

 commercial 

 fishing for 

 Columbia River 

 summer chinook 

 salmon in Idaho 

 since 1964. 



a treaty in 1985 that set 

 limits on harvests of 

 salmon originating in both 

 nations. 



o 



s 



' ince the 1960s, state, federal and interna- 

 tional fishery managers have been steadily 

 cutting harvest rates to protect salmon runs. 

 For example, there has been no commercial 

 fishing for Columbia River summer chinook 

 salmon since 1964. The last fishing season 

 for any Snake River chinook salmon in Idaho 

 was in 1975, although limited fishing contin- 

 ues for salmon returning to a hatchery on 

 Idaho's Rapid River, a Salmon River tribu- 

 tary: And the United States and Canada signed 



ecause our Council 

 lacks the authority to regu- 

 late harvest seasons, we ask 

 fishery managers to con- 

 tinue their moratorium on 

 commercial fishing for 

 summer chinook, and to 

 halt commercial harvest of 

 sockeye below the 

 confluence of the Snake 

 and Columbia rivers to 

 protect endangered Snake 

 River sockeye. The gover- 

 nors of Washington and 

 Oregon have directed their 

 state fishery agencies to follow our harvest 

 restrictions. ., , ' 



We also call for immediate reduction of 

 overall harvest rates on Snake River fall 

 chinook — another threatened species — to 

 no more than 55 percent of the projected run. 

 In recent years, the harvest rate has been as 

 high as 77 percent. In 1993, harvest managers 

 reportec^ that they met our new targets. Non- 

 treaty river harvest of spring chinook should 

 be limited to about 4 percent of the upriver 

 run, just under the 1987-1991 average 

 catches. 



Rock Island Dam near Wenaichee is the 

 first dam completed across the Colum- 

 bia. Construction of Grand 

 Coulee Dam begins. 



25 



