The Boldt Decision - The Fish Tale That Changed History
Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 12:03AM 
In a recent post, Felice Pace of the KlamBlog speculated that most of those involved in Klamath River and Klamath Salmon issues these days do not know the history of the Boldt Decision. My hunch is that would apply to others involved in fish and habitat issues throughout the Pacific Northwest.
So Felice posted an article from the February 7, 1999 issue of the Seattle called 25 Years After the Boldt Decision along with the following lead.
Those who understand history and its patterns have an advantage navigating the present. This is particularly true for those who are involved in political movements and social controversies. We have that now on the Klamath. While the political and social struggles still center on salmon, the antagonists now are those who seek to control Klamath River water and its management as well as those who own dams and those who seek to remove them.
The issues and politics on the Klamath are similar to those taking place on other rivers where salmon and steelhead conservation meet tribal fishing rights. Anyone out there who is not familiar with the history surrounding the Boldt Decision should read this article. As Felice Pace eloquently states, "Learn the history, it will help you find the right road today."
25 Years After the Boldt Decision - The Fish Tale That Changed History
boldt decision, klamblog, tribal fishing rights in Politics
Reader Comments (3)
Cool read. Thanks for putting that up. Gotta admit I cringe when I see the nets being pulled, but then remind myself this is their fish more than ours.
Sure would be cool to know what the tribes do to help restore the fisheries nowadays. I don't blame them for the decline, but we are in this boat together now.
A great article. Thanks for posting it.
This is a must-read for any steelhead conservationist...so it should be a must-read for any and all people who steelhead fish. The fact is, we may be in this together...and Judge Boldt's decision granted treaty tribes 50% of the runs...then why isn't our state doing anything to regulate that number?
Tribal biologists are responsible for establishing next year's quota based on this year's redd counts. The facts are cooked...these so called "tribal biologists" go out and base their redd counts for the entire river based off a couple mile stretch where 90% of the steelhead will spawn. On one particular river...this stretch is roughly ten miles up from the coast. "Biologists" take the redd counts in this two mile stretch and multiply it times 10, for 10 river miles...to inflate future quota numbers.
Natives in jetboats herding wild steelhead into their nets using long wooden sticks, pounding on woodpiles and moving up the river two and three boats at a time in a big push. It's criminal. This is no secret...this stuff happens plain as day every spring on the OP.
People think..."we're all it this together" or, "they were here first"...we're not in anything together. You think Natives care about whether or not their netting wild steelhead? The answer is, NO! They know as soon as they net-out and extict what's left of our wild runs, our government will step in and provide them with monetary compensation because their subsistence lifestyle and the fish "they rely on" is now gone.
People need to get with the program...we're tired of fighting this ourselves up here. People consider this the last remaining steelhead mecca of the lower 48...it's still pathetic compared to what it was 20 years ago. And in another 20 years it will be just a memory. No more cop-outs and no more looking the other way...get involved.