Indian fishing letter lacked accuracy
Wherever would we be without Dennis Sather to amuse us, with his repeated (and ignorant) attacks on Indians, blaming them for every problem from the lack of rain to the price of peas? His latest diatribe (Feb. 6 Letters) claimed that: Indians fished "24/7 at West Beach" for chum salmon last year; Indians are netting "endangered wild steelhead, a federal felony to anyone else;" Indian fishing caused the endangered species listings; and tribes don't provide their catch data.
Mr. Sather is living in Fantasyland. The actual facts in each case are:
West Beach (Area 6A) has been closed to all tribal salmon fishing since 1984. Not only has this supposedly "24/7" place been completely closed for more than 20 years, but the Skagit tribes are not open "24/7" for salmon fishing anywhere.
Skagit steelhead are not listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA); thus, netting them is not a federal felony.
If Indian fishing caused the ESA listings, then how does Mr. Sather explain the listings of 16 salmon and steelhead units that are not fished on at all by Indians?
And, catch totals are public records — has he tried asking for them?
For the most recent years, only 1 percent of the adult run of Skagit summer chinook was caught in all Puget Sound fisheries combined. Scrapping over the Indian part of that 1 percent may be satisfying to those interested in nurturing their preconceived bigotry, but it won't improve the runs.
Robert Hayman
La Conner
Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald
Mr. Sather is living in Fantasyland. The actual facts in each case are:
West Beach (Area 6A) has been closed to all tribal salmon fishing since 1984. Not only has this supposedly "24/7" place been completely closed for more than 20 years, but the Skagit tribes are not open "24/7" for salmon fishing anywhere.
Skagit steelhead are not listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA); thus, netting them is not a federal felony.
If Indian fishing caused the ESA listings, then how does Mr. Sather explain the listings of 16 salmon and steelhead units that are not fished on at all by Indians?
And, catch totals are public records — has he tried asking for them?
For the most recent years, only 1 percent of the adult run of Skagit summer chinook was caught in all Puget Sound fisheries combined. Scrapping over the Indian part of that 1 percent may be satisfying to those interested in nurturing their preconceived bigotry, but it won't improve the runs.
Robert Hayman
La Conner
Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald
posted by Christian at 3/04/2005
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