FISHING -- I've been hearing scattered complaints about "the Indians" netting salmon near the mouth of the Okanogan River since before the Upper Columbia sockeye and chinook fisheries opened on July 1.

Sport fishing has been excellent, but some people apparently can't share the catch with the Tribes that actually are working to improve salmon fishing in the Upper Columbia. Here's the latest:

"The Colville Confederated Tribes’ fishermen had a rude awakening on the morning of July 14 when they arrived to work at Mosquito Park near Brewster, Wash., and found their fishing boat, “The Dream Catcher,” was vandalized and some equipment was stolen," the Tribes report.

     “The Dream Catcher has two primary functions for the Columbia River fishery and the Colville Tribes,” said Randall Friedlander, CTFW director.  “The first function of the boat is to collect both hatchery-origin and natural-origin Chinook broodstock for salmon production at Chief Joseph Hatchery.  These fish provide future returns for all of the fishermen throughout the entire river system.  We release 2.9 million salmon yearlings per year,” he said.  “The second function of the vessel is to provide a selective harvest opportunity for the Colville Tribes.  Natural-origin Chinook that are not taken for broodstock are released to spawn, and only the hatchery-origin Chinook are harvested for consumption.  Historically, our people have been recorded as catching up to ten tons of fish per day at just one of the many fisheries on the upper Columbia like Kettle Falls.  Today, our Tribe catches a fraction of its historic catch,” said Friedlander.  

     Often, what the Colville's do catch is shared with the other Upper Columbia United Tribes, the Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Kalispel and Kootenai Tribes.   

     Due to the recent incident, security has been added to the site along with cameras.

     Anyone with information about the incident is being asked to call the Colville Tribal Police Dept. at 509.634.2472. The Colville Tribe is offering a $2,500 reward for information that helps solve this crime.  Local businesses are also stepping up to add to this reward.  More information will become available pending further investigation.   

By the way, Jeff Korth, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife regional fisheries manager, says sport fishermen in the Upper Columbia catch about twice as many sockeye as the Colville tribal fishermen.