Wednesday August 23, 2023
KCBY —
The Coquille Tribe is getting an early start in its effort to make the Coquille River a safer home for endangered Chinook salmon.
Tribal biologists use electrofishing boats to capture predatory smallmouth bass in the river.
“The Tribe are concerned with protecting the salmon because it’s a traditional food for them and a significantly important species for the tribe,” said Tribal Biologist Jamie Harrison. “When the Tribe got their co-management agreement, they began assisting the state to remove the smallmouth bass so that so that we could help remove this species that was illegally introduced.”
Assistant Executive Director of the Tribe’s Natural Resource Office John Ogan tells us salmon have long sustained Coquille and other tribal peoples and are at the core of tribal culture, ceremony, and religion, but they’re also important to the economy.