For the second year in a row, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has been able to exercise its treaty right to harvest coho salmon from the Elwha River after the removal of two fish-blocking dams.
A ceremonial and subsistence fishery for tribal members opened in fall 2023 and fall 2024 following years of evaluation using tools including sonar, redd surveys, snorkel surveys, tangle net surveys and smolt trapping. Prior to the 2023 opening, research was conducted to determine the most efficient fishing gear, such as handheld gear and river nets.
In 2023, the tribe harvested 177 coho. In 2024, the tribe harvested 189 of the fish.
The preseason forecast for returning Elwha River coho salmon in 2024 was 6,402, which was slightly down compared to 2023 of 7,000.
Using data from 2023, the tribe was able to open the fishery two weeks earlier in 2024, in September, without affecting the end of the chinook run in the river, though weather events impacted how much tribal members fished.
“Fishing effort was slightly down compared to the first year; we had some significant rain events this year which affected the fishery and reduced effort,” said Lane Jackson, the tribe’s fisheries management biologist.
Provided that the pre-season forecast allows it, the tribe plans to continue its ceremonial and subsistence coho fishery in 2025 and is meeting with community members to solicit feedback and continue to improve the fishery, Jackson said.
At the start of dam removal in 2011, the tribe, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Olympic National Park voluntarily suspended fishing to allow salmon populations to recolonize their former habitat and rebuild their populations. The river had two dams on it for more than 100 years, blocking salmon access to more than 90% of the river, devastating the once abundant salmon populations in the system.
A Lower Elwha Klallam tribal member exercises his treaty right to harvest coho salmon from the Elwha River in October 2023. Story and photo: Tiffany Royal
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