Salmon are struggling, as former foes turned allies call for action

New ally-ship formed to protect salmon

A coalition of "salmon warriors" was formed in 2018 and named after Billy Frank Jr. to honor his work in the field – his son, Willie Frank III, now works alongside people like Ron Garner, the President of Puget Sound Anglers.

SEATTLE - Time is truly running out when it comes to our state’s threatened and endangered salmon species.

For decades, fights around salmon turned ugly, including the continual arrest of Bill Frank Jr., an environmental leader who was arrested more than 50 times on the banks of the Nisqually River for trying to exercise his treaty rights through fishing.

Even after Frank’s activism paved the way to court cases re-affirming tribal rights to fish, infighting continued between tribal fishermen and other groups – but now, historic enemies are becoming partners as the seriousness of the plight of salmon comes into focus.

"It’s time to work together," said Garner. "We’ve done the opposite – so it’s time to fix this."

Garner told FOX 13 that it’s on the people who understand the situation best to work together. That’s why the Billy Frank Jr. Salmon Coalition has a wide range of members, including tribal leaders, conservation groups, researchers and fishermen from both recreational and commercial backgrounds.

Their coalition is launching a new awareness campaign that is meant to catch the eye of longtime residents and the influx of new faces coming to the region.

While resources have been poured into salmon recovery, the reality is that the message isn’t reaching the public at the level the coalition wants.

There is a concern that people are unaware that a fight long underway, will need additional resources to ensure that salmon don’t disappear from Washington.

The new campaign is a call-to-action for people to get involved. That can be as simple as choosing a local river, beach or stream and committing to understanding its connection to the region’s salmon and so that you can become a steward. It could also be buying and eating local – or getting vocal about what you’ve learned.

"To see where it’s at and heading is scary," said Glen Gobin, a Tulalip tribal leader. "If we don’t take the time to step back and really look at what’s going on and start to make changes we need, it’ll all be lost. And it’ll be lost forever."

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In mid-March, a number of coalition members gathered on the Nisqually River to discuss their new push to garner attention, and motivate change.

It’s considered a critical time, as more than a dozen species of salmon are threatened or endangered. The latest report on salmon recovery from the Governor’s Office found that more than half of the species are not keeping pace with goals for recovery.

"If you think of yourself on a treadmill, the ramp is all the way up and the speed is at full," explained Fran Wilshusen, the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission director of environmental Protection.

"We have to run and move because we’re seeing the stocks at a critical level. We know what to do, we know what has to be done, we just have to get to the hard work of doing it."

The blueprint that the Billy Frank Jr. Salmon Coalition is using focuses on three main points: hatchery production to ensure salmon populations don’t disappear, management of seals and sea lions that eat a disproportionate amount of both adult and juvenile salmon, and restoration/protection of habitat that salmon rely on.

Habitat is especially important, as decades-old decisions of how to build around our state’s watersheds are now coming back to bite us. With our state’s population continuing to grow, tough decisions will be faced on how to continue growth while reviving degraded habitat to ensure salmon can survive.

Learn more about the Billy Frank Jr. Salmon Coalition here.