SENATE RESOLUTION

                         1997-8629

By Senators Swecker and Prentice

     WHEREAS, Salmon are an integral part of Washington's environmental heritage; and

     WHEREAS, Salmon are valuable to both Native American people and to non-Indians alike for the food and recreation that they provide; and

     WHEREAS, Some salmon stocks are sufficiently depleted to be eligible for federal listing as threatened or endangered species; and

     WHEREAS, Every salmon stock must be wisely managed to assure that it is conserved for the future and that maximum benefits are achieved from harvesting salmon in a scientifically sound manner; and

     WHEREAS, Recent commercial fishing practices in the Hood Canal chum salmon fishery have resulted in wastage of large numbers of adult salmon; and

     WHEREAS, Wastage of chum salmon has occurred in other areas of the state during the fall 1996 fishery; and

     WHEREAS, The practice of wasting salmon is not acceptable to the legislature and the people of the state of Washington; and

     WHEREAS, The appropriate management of chum salmon resides in a fostering of a cooperative relationship between the treaty Indian tribes and the state Fish and Wildlife Commission; and

     WHEREAS, The treaty Indian tribes and the Fish and Wildlife Commission need to explore creative solutions to chum salmon management that would prove to be beneficial to both parties, and that could serve as a catalyst to expanding working relationships between the state and the tribes; and

     WHEREAS, The treaty Indian tribes and the Fish and Wildlife Commission have the ability to cooperatively deliberate for the purpose of resolving the chum salmon wastage situation prior to the 1997 fishery;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the Governor of the State of Washington, the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, and to the Fish and Wildlife Commission.