Fate Of Salmon Unites Old Foes

Fishermen have forgotten their past grievances against Indian tribes to join in pushing the federal government to save declining salmon runs.

“I don’t think the fish can afford to have us fighting over the last one,” Liz Hamilton, executive director of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, said Wednesday. “We absolutely have to work together.”

Representatives of both sport and commercial fishermen joined Indian tribes this week in denouncing a federal plan for operating Columbia and Snake river hydroelectric dams, which are a major factor in declining salmon runs.

In the past, sport and commercial fishermen have objected to court rulings granting Indian tribes half the salmon in the Columbia.

Hamilton said fishermen have grown tired of watching salmon go from a $1.4 billion industry in 1985 to less than $300 million in 1994 because the fish are in danger of extinction.

Will Stelle, regional director of the National Marine Fisheries Service, held a daylong closed meeting Tuesday to discuss the government’s proposal, which calls for releasing water from dams to aid fish on their migration to the sea.

He said there would be changes in the plan - known formally as a biological opinion - before he submits it to U.S. District Judge Malcolm F. Marsh on Feb. 22.