For Immediate Release

September 16, 2004

FISHERY AGREEMENT TO BOOST
OXYGEN LEVELS IN HOOD CANAL

SEATTLE. WA – A joint project between the Skokomish Tribe and a local fish processing firm will help remove chum carcasses from oxygen-starved Hood Canal during tribal salmon fisheries this fall, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said Thursday.

            Under the agreement, the Tribe has amended its law to prohibit the disposal of the chum carcasses into Hood Canal.  Instead they will be obtained by a Bellingham-based firm, American-Canadian Fisheries Inc.  Federal funds distributed by the state’s Puget Sound Action Team will support a tribal education and enforcement program that will assure that the goals of the agreement are reached, Rep. Dicks said.

            Rep. Dicks, the ranking Democratic member of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, has secured a total of $850,000 in the current fiscal year and he is awaiting final approval for another $1.95 million in the next fiscal year in federal funding to assist the joint research effort into the oxygen depletion problem in Hood Canal.

            In recent years, low levels of oxygen in Hood Canal have led to a dramatic decline in populations of fish, shellfish and invertebrate species – particularly in the lower portions of the 80-mile long canal where water circulation is limited.  One of the contributing factors has been the depositing of fish carcasses (after salmon eggs have been harvested) back into the canal.  Carcasses consume oxygen when they decompose, contributing to the low oxygen levels in Hood Canal, the congressman said.  Other major causes include septic systems, agricultural and storm-water runoff.

            Adding nutrients in the form of carcasses into ecosystems is a standard enhancement practice in natural resource management. Plants, insects, wildlife and even other fish benefit from the nutrients that the carcasses provide as they decompose. Hood Canal, however, is desperately starved for the oxygen required for carcasses to break down because most of the oxygen is used to dissolve the high levels of nutrients deposited by septic systems from homes lining Hood Canal.

            “This is a significant and farsighted decision by the Skokomish Tribe that will make a substantial contribution to the overall health of the Hood Canal ecosystem,” Rep. Dicks said.  “It is one of several fundamental strategies that we must adopt in order to sustain this resource well into the future, and it’s an incremental step we can take right now, while we are seeking additional solutions to the problems affecting the condition of Puget Sound,” he said.

            Representatives of the Skokomish Tribe stressed the tribe’s awareness of the problem and its sense of responsibility that has prompted the change in tribal laws.  “The tribe is very concerned about the low oxygen problem, and we are going to step up and do what we can to resolve this issue,” said Dave Herrera, fisheries director for the Skokomish Tribe.

            Michael Turner, of American-Canadian Fisheries Inc., said his firm’s President, Andy Vitaljic – an innovator in seafood and roe production -- has been working with the Columbia River tribal fishery as well as state and federal salmon hatcheries throughout the Northwest since 1970.  In recent years it has developed cooperative arrangements with local food banks in Washington, Oregon and California.  “As a company, we target full utilization of the fish.  The Skokomish cultural heritage dictates the same; we are looking forward to working closely with the Tribal fishermen in this strategic effort to address the oxygen deprivation problem in the lower canal area.  With the Tribe’s cooperation, I am confident we can make a great improvement in the ability of Hood Canal to support an ecologically sound salmon fishery,” Turner said.

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