Middle Klamath River

[tcorfey]

One thing to remember though is the other major barrier to fish repopulation in the Klamath is the continued expansion of the use of full width gill nets by First Nations people near the mouth of the Klamath and the Trinity and not just short term for ceremonial and substance but also long term for profit. As long as those nets continue to be used for extended periods, I am afraid our returns will remain low regardless of the amount of spawning habitat we provide. I would really like to see a ban on those types of nets or a very limited season maybe one week max In order to help the stocks rebuild.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Someone marries a woman who is one-fourth Native American, then buys a huge jet boat, a bunch of large synthetic gill nets, and

then the river is being abused again. This has been going on for decades now. They sell the fish commercially too.

This needs to be dealt with.


We don't need any hatcheries on the Klamath River. Wild fish survive better.


The Klamath river should be barbless, single-hook as well. The CA Fish & Wildlife told us that sport fishing does not impact fisheries

much and fly fishing even less, but commercial fishing and poaching are devastating.

[Bob Smith]

The issue of the Klamath River annual tribal allocation of 50% of whatever is determined to be harvest-able surplus is codified by treaty and law and will never change.

[hwchubb]

They did substantially cut back the netting last year voluntarily. I would hope, as the traditional “stewards of the resource”, and major stakeholders in the dam removal project, the tribes would be forward thinking on that. Of course, hope in one hand…

[tcorfey]

Yes, last year saw a much better return when the tribes did that. Wish they would continue to see the need in order to enhance/restore the fishery.

[BumpBailey]

Yes, last year saw a much better return when the tribes did that. Wish they would continue to see the need in order to enhance/restore the fishery.

Hopefully, after all the time and effort they have spent getting these dams out, they will see the big picture and start practicing more sustainable ways of getting their catch! Which might also help prop up the tourism industry and reap more benefits for all the people up there.

Maybe
I might be a little too optimistic...

[JayDubP]

Hopefully, after all the time and effort they have spent getting these dams out, they will see the big picture and start practicing more sustainable ways of getting their catch! Which might also help prop up the tourism industry and reap more benefits for all the people up there.

Maybe
I might be a little too optimistic...

A Serious Thought:
Maybe the Feds and CA State could give the tribes free land and money to grow marijuana --- in exchange for the tribes agreeing to outlaw gill netting and commercial sale of salmon & steelhead. That would increase employment on the reservations and eliminate the need to commercially sell fish.

[Darian]

"Maybe the Feds and CA State could give the tribes free land and money to grow marijuana"

What is it that makes you think that native Americans aren't already cultivating Marijuana and on free land (think reservations)??? Too much competition from illegal and legal grows.

Maybe a more viable proposal would be (if they haven't already done it) to obtain land for a Casino in one of the cities up there.

[tcorfey]

The Yurok's have a Casino at the mouth of the Klamath (more or less) it is just a bunch of slot machines located within the Holiday Inn Express so not much employment. I did not see any gaming tables, but the food in the bar/resturant was quite good.

[Bob Smith]

We really can't blame the tribes for the decline of salmon when a significant amount of Klamath water is diverted from the Upper Basin, upper tributaries and Trinity River for other uses.

Tribal allocation on the Klamath is divided between the Hupa (or Hoopa) and Yurok. The Karuk are allowed to remove salmon for ceremonial purposes by dip netting at Ishi Pishi Falls. For the Yurok (whom are allotted 80% of the tribal allocation), fishing is a cultural issue and not about money. In high abundance years, they will fish commercially so money is a part of it. The Yurok in particular have a large fisheries staff and those folks are very active in restoration enhancement projects on their lands. All of the Klamath tribes will continue to participate in post dam removal restoration, particularly in the footprints of the old reservoirs.

I'm not a fan of gill netting either but that's not going end...