An agreement has been reached to form a team of state, tribal and federal biologists to find and mark fall chinook salmon spawning areas in the Clearwater River.
The move was announced Monday by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Nez Perce Tribe as a compromise to the tribe's plans to close portions of the river to protect endangered chinook in known spawning areas.Silas Whitman, director of the Nez Perce Fisheries Department, announced plans to close the areas last week after state officials reported finding four dead chinook that apparently were taken illegally from the river.
Steve Huffaker, Fish and Game's fisheries bureau chief, said the compromise was reached during a meeting in Boise with Whitman. Rather than closing stretches of the river to fishing, Huffaker said, the plan calls for biologists from the state, the tribe and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to survey the Clearwater for chinook spawning redds or nests.
Any redds found will be marked with buoys. Fishing, boating and other activities that could disrupt salmon spawning will be banned in those areas.
Huffaker also released the results of an analysis of scales from the dead fish Monday. Tests by a Washington Fish and Wildlife Department biologist indicated the fish most likely came from a mid-Columbia River fish hatchery.
The fish apparently were part of a group of surplus salmon distributed to Columbia River fishing tribes, including the Nez Perce.
"We don't think we had a poaching incident and hope this posting of the spawning areas prevents poaching," Huffaker said.
He said it was unclear why the dead fish were dumped near an area of the Clearwater River where four salmon redds have been identified.
"That is one point where we agree with the tribe that those fish shouldn't be harassed," Huffaker said. "The word I would like to get out - and I think Si would agree - is if people know where those redds are, they should avoid them."
State, tribal and federal officials on Monday also discussed how to resolve continuing tension between the state and Nez Perce over issues including steelhead fishing on the Clearwater.
The Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee last month begin charging non-Nez Perce steelhead anglers a $10 license fee on the Clearwater within the tribe's reservation.
State officials, including Gov. Cecil Andrus and Attorney General Larry EchoHawk, continue to question the tribe's legal authority to charge the license fee and have threatened legal action to overturn it.