Columbia River tribes protest volume of fishing

Representatives of Columbia River tribes say Oregon and Washington have allowed too much nontribal fishing of upper Columbia spring chinook at the probable expense of tribes depending on what may be an unexpectedly low run.

The Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, representing the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Yakama tribes, sent a letter to the states last week.

So far, tribal fishermen above Bonneville Dam have caught about 1,000 spring chinook, while nontribal fisheries have caught about 19,000, according to the letter from N. Kathryn Brigham, the group's chairwoman. The numbers are supposed to be about equal, The Oregonian reported.

Spring chinook, the river's most valuable fish pound for pound, are important to the tribes' diet and commercial harvest as well as to sport fishermen and nontribal commercial fishermen.

And the wild runs of spring chinook that originate in the upper Columbia and Snake rivers are among the more endangered.

If the states and the tribes can't agree on changes under the federal court case that covers fishing allocations, Brigham said, the tribes will go to court.