Scenes From The River (nooksack)

[Runejl]

Floated the Nooksack last week. Put in at Highway 9 and pulled out at Nugents. It was a fun day on the river with my good buddy @driftboatdan . I was surprised by the number of Chum we saw in the main river.

Unfortunately I wasn't really surprised by what else we found. A sled half sunk along with a number of abandoned indian nets filled with wasted salmon. Other fish had been thrown on the bank to rot.

A sheriff stopped us at Nugents corner and checked our licenses. We told him about what we saw and he shrugged his shoulders and said maybe we should call tribal enforcement.

 

[Gyrfalcon2015]

WOW! I'd get ahold of a news agency..they'd atleast put it on file.

 

[MD]

Shameful. That river has so much potential (in my opinion) but gets the shit end of the stick from a number of different sources.

I'll suggest connecting with Brandon or Scott down at Confluence. Seems to me when Ed Megill was still there, he and others marked a number of derelict nets and worked with some other agencies to get them hauled out. I'm guessing Brandon could point you in the right direction.

I'd also guess NSEA would be another one to contact. I'd be surprised if they wouldn't do something to get them hauled out.

And how was that last mile or so of the float? If I remember right it changed course down stream of the raceway a year or so ago and was a narrow chute with few places to bail out if one ran into trouble.

Regardless, I bet it was a good float. Must have been fun. thanks for sharing

 

[Runejl]

Float was fun. Didn't really see anything that worried me. The river necks down really narrow in a number of places.

 

[Jeff Peacock]

WOW! I'd get ahold of a news agency..they'd atleast put it on file.

Agree with that! Probably wishful thinking, but was there any registration information on the boat? Might be worth sending the images to the tribal council in Deming I can't imagine they want this kind of publicity.

 

[Josh]

In the past, I believe the Nooksack enforcement guy has been receptive to calls about abandoned nets. But I have no idea if that's the case any longer or even if the same guy is still working there. @hookedonthefly might know something if he's still paying attention to WFF.

 

[Jamie Wilson]

Stewards of the resource

 

[Runejl]

I dropped a note to the Bellingham Herald but doubt they will post anything. I am pretty sure the boat has been sunk for around a month as I saw a friends pic of it from earlier in the year.

I will shoot Ed an email and see who he thinks I should get a hold of.

 

[The T.O. Show]

Puhhhhhthetic....

 

[wolfkill]

Yep such great stewards of the land ,that's nothing look up the skokomish fish dump that we really make you mad.Especially after you read the tribes response to it.

 

[Chris Johnson]

Here is the contact info for Nooksack tribal F&W Enforcement:

Derrick Charlton
Cell (360) 305-9376
Office (360) 592-9065

I've talked to him a couple times and he said if you see derelict nets you should call him and he will take care of it. DON'T TAKE THE NET, you'll be open to legal action.

 

[freestoneangler]

Wait a minute, wasn't this an older post that was recently resurrected in another thread? I commented that I'd observed similar BS on the Nisqually back in the late 80's and 90's. In any case, it's relevant because I suspect it goes on a great deal more than any of us care to know.

 

[nooksacker]

The Nooksack is a put and take fishery for the Lummi Tribe and in more recent years the Nooksack Tribe...pretty sure they mostly resent each other. Your tax dollars keep the ball rolling with something called Lummi aquaculture and the Kendall Hatchery and the Saxon Hatchery. Meanwhile they shit,piss and dump their waste oil and their ghost nets on this fishery. I've only been here 59 years but its been this way all of those years. I've been offered protected native spring chinook salmon for sale from the trunks of cars at the local Dodsons Market by these native folk and have reported the same to the WDFW and tribal law enforcement..no one cares. The fact of the matter is is the tribes could...hell maybe should fish the Nooksack with explosives and no one would do a damn thing about it, unless it was maybe to take the water rights away from a few more property owners. This is the wrong forum for these pics and story. This story needs to be shared with the Seattle Times, Bellingham Hearld, if they are not interested maybe CNN or Fox News would be?

 

[MotoBoat]

Here is the contact info for Nooksack tribal F&W Enforcement:

Derrick Charlton
Cell (360) 305-9376
Office (360) 592-9065

I've talked to him a couple times and he said if you see derelict nets you should call him and he will take care of it. DON'T TAKE THE NET, you'll be open to legal action.

Really tribal enforcement of tribe? Or, clean up crew, for the sole purpose of improved wasteful tribal image?

 

[McFly]

I've seen this before and I'm disgusted by it. I'd like think this is the work of a few drunken losers rather than the native tribes as a whole. Can anyone tell me if they know of something they (the tribes) are doing right?