Tribal fishers work to restore salmon in the Skokomish River
Dave Herrera is no stranger to the Hood Canal region. His Skokomish ancestors lived throughout the Hood Canal area for millennia. Herrera’s mother grew up on the Skokomish reservation but moved to Tacoma — where Herrera was raised — after marrying his father. Herrera studied at the Peninsula College specializing in fisheries technology and now works with the Skokomish Tribe on management, protection and restoration of salmon populations that have been impacted by decades of development and industrialization.
“All of the people in Northwest have an interest in protecting and recovering the salmon. People call it an icon of our region. We are known for the local salmon. It is important to all of us,” said Herrera.
For centuries, the Skokomish people lived in balance with the land — hunting, fishing, gathering and preserving food during the summer and fall, then moving into their winter villages for the long, cold winter. All of that began to change with settlement by non-Indians. After the treaties were signed, logging, over-fishing, and land development have significantly reduced salmon populations, threatening the Tribe’s way of life.
Herrera started working with the Skokomish Tribe’s fisheries program following the U.S. v. Washington ruling in 1974. In that landmark court decision, Judge George Boldt upheld tribes’ reserved rights to fish and to manage their own fisheries resources.
Since Washington became a state, development along the Skokomish River and Hood Canal has led to a significant decline in the productivity of habitat for salmon. Decades of poor logging practices has caused vast amounts of sediments, gravel, and dirt to wash into the river. Also, sewage from homes built along the shorelines without adequate wastewater systems discharged into local bodies of water leading to toxic contamination. Salmon populations faced additional threats when blocking dams were built in the Skokomish River to generate electricity, and subsequently cut off the fish’s access to critical habitats.
The Skokomish Tribe has fought long and hard to protect the salmon, local natural resources, and waterways. In the 1980s, the Tribe collaborated with state agencies and community organizations to clean and improve water quality through projects such as installing wastewater systems and replanting trees to prevent erosion. Tribal leaders also created salmon hatcheries and filed litigation to mitigate the harm caused by the hydroelectric dams.
For the Skokomish Tribe, and for millions of Washingtonians, the salmon is not only a source of food but also an essential component of the local economy, social tradition, and cultural identity. Restoring the salmon populations has not been an easy task. Herrera describes the work as consisting of three major elements.
“In many places, the habitat is in good condition and pretty productive — so you want to protect those areas from being converted for development purposes,” says Herrera. “Then, you want to identify areas where you can do habitat restoration work that will improve the productivity of those areas. The third step is to limit direct impacts to the fish like overfishing.”
“In the Northwest, we have historically had a thriving fishing industry — both commercial and recreational — but those fisheries have been curtailed sharply to protect weak salmon stocks. Unfortunately, many of us now have few fishing opportunities while we try to recover those populations. So, we are not just doing restoration work — we also protecting salmon populations by limiting how much we can fish.”
For over thirty years now, Herrera has been working to clean up the Skokomish River and protect the quality of local bodies of water like Hood Canal. As the Fisheries and Wildlife Policy Representative for the Skokomish Tribe, Herrera is responsible for educating policymakers and the public about the importance of restoring the salmon and protecting natural habitats.
“We are always educating people — starting with our children — about what the earth needs, what the wildlife needs, and what our society needs to make sure we keep our natural resources around,” says Herrera.
While Washingtonians and everyone in the Northwest have an interest in protecting and recovering salmon populations, salmon habitat continues to face the threat of urban development such as new housing, highways, bridges, freeways, and other infrastructure. Herrera explains that while the biggest challenge is changing human behavior, he remains hopeful of the collaborative efforts to restore salmon populations. Herrera also stresses the need for decisionmakers to adopt new policies to designate certain critical areas as protected and closed to development, and regulations that promote habitat restoration to protect salmon and improve water quality.
The work to protect the Skokomish River and Hood Canal has been made possible by funding from many sources including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Estuary Program funds, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Legacy Roads and Trails funds, US Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) General Investigation funds, Washington State Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration (PSAR) funds, and the Washington State Estuary & Salmon Restoration Program (ESRP).
