100 bucks for some Sockeye?

[Rock]

Take a look at this article and you might be as Infuriated as I.

http://theolympiareport.com/swinomishs- ... -poaching/

Brian Cladoosby, under whose leadership Washington’s Swinomish Tribe has actively opposed everything from wells drilled on private property to plastic water bottles in the name of preserving salmon runs, was apparently cited himself last month for poaching.
According to a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Program report, Cladoosby allegedly sold sockeye salmon to the operators of several recreational vessels on Cornett Bay on June 25.
When confronted by investigating officers, Cladoosby admitted he didn’t have a ticket for the fish he’d just sold – and then offered to sell more to the WDFW personnel.
“During the recreational crab opener on Sunday, officers responded to a (Washington State Patrol) call for service regarding a tribal member selling sockeye salmon to recreational crabbing vessels out of his,” the report noted. “Officers contacted the recreational vessel and found out that the group had paid the tribal fisherman $100 for six sockeye salmon.”
After confiscating the fish – which were donated to the tribe – the officers questioned Cladoosby.
“The fisherman stated that he had sold fish to numerous recreational boats who wished to purchase fish,” the report said. “The fisherman then offered to sell some to the officers. The officers asked if the salmon had been recorded on a fish ticket prior to being sold. The fisherman stated that he would later record the sold fish on his fish ticket as take-home fish. The tribal member was informed that this was a violation of state and tribal law, and that the officers would be in communication with tribal fisheries officers.”
By law, the WDFW authorities referred the case to the Swinomish – of which Cladoosby has served as tribal chairman for 17 years – for disciplinary action.
According to campaign finance records, the tribe has donated more than $414,000 since 2004 to a variety of Democratic political candidates and causes – most notably Gov. Christine Gregoire.
“If Brian Cladoosby — the self-proclaimed protector of salmon – can’t be bothered to follow one of the very few salmon laws that apply to him, why should the rest of us?” wrote Mount Vernon Zachary J. Barborinas in an unpublished letter to the Skagit Valley Herald, which has also thus far declined to write a story about the incident.
“This isn’t 1970, and the Swinomish isn’t downtrodden,” Barborinas wrote. “Brian Cladoosby heads an entity that is the second largest business in Skagit County, the result of preferential laws at all levels of government. Cladoosby uses his money and power in aggressive ways that no other tribe in the region seems to be doing, allegedly in the name of salmon. So when he can’t follow the few salmon laws that apply to him, we feel like it deserves objective media coverage

[Nelly]

Hoo Boy...
This is an embarassment for the Swinomish Tribe and I sincerely hope that the individual involved has his leadership status with the Swinomish Tribe reviewed -if not revoked entirely.

The sockeye season in the Skagit River and Baker Lake is nothing short of an recreational and economic boon to a region that has no other salmon fishing opportunity this season.

For a Swinomish Tribal member to behave with such wanton disregard for the resource is a disgrace.

[Smalma]

For years as part of the NOF process the tribal community lead at least in part by the Swinomish tribal leadership insisted that WDFW produce annual enforcement reports detailing the amount of enforcement effort, types of violations etc. This and other reports seem to indicate that the other half of the fishing equation needs to be providing similar documentation of enforcement activities to the rest of us.

The type of activity report in this article is unacceptable and if salmon recovery and even salmon fishing in this State is ever going to recieve broad acceptance for the State's population it has to end.


TJ - something for the next NOF adgenda?

Tight lines
Curt

[Fish4Dinner]

While the article is slightly incorrect that he was "cited", the real point is that he will NEVER be cited. It was referred to tribal authorities. The final incident report states officers contacted Officer Erps with the Swinomish Tribe right after the incident and he confirmed "it was a violation of Swinomish Tribal regulations to sell salmon to a non-licensed buyer." It also says this on their website. It was only later in the day that Officer Erps was told who the offender was….Chairman Brian Cladoosby. Now, everyone is saying no laws were broken and according to a recent local newspaper article, the Chairman says he does it all the time. Last year, this man single-handedly shut-down a 30 square mile area, off the reservation, in Skagit County to building over fish protection. According to the environmental analysis from Ecology, 550 landowners lost the right to use wells on their rural property because of 6 treaty fish. This is no joke. He currently has a lawsuit in the Supreme Court to shut down the entire Skagit Watershed to building. 5,500 landowners potentially impacted because of 166.5 treaty fish. The man and his agenda has gone too far.