Squaxin Island Tribe's Natural Resources

Ancient clam gardens and deepwater sand lance habitats are just two of the many varied topics that were interesting at the biennial Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference held in Vancouver British Columbia this October.   Researchers fromSimonFraserUniversitylooked at the effectiveness of ancient shellfish gardens created onQuadraIslandinBritish Columbia.  In these gardens, first nations’ peoples cleared rocks and small [...]

[Read more →]

Nutrient loading and its effects on the health of the Salish Sea was a topic covered from a variety of perspectives at the recent Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference in Vancouver, BC.  The most common threat from elevated nutrients is hypoxia, or dangerously low levels of dissolved oxygen as is found at times in Hood Canal. [...]

[Read more →]

Some very interesting footage of the Governor discussing with her natural resources cabinet the role of ag in closing Samish Bay to shellfish harvest.  Let’s hope she applies as much pressure on her staff the next time a closure is proposed in Oakland Bay.

[Read more →]

Over at the NWIFC, there is a new video of how private tideland harvests are handled:

[Read more →]

From Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Website: Anderson Good Choice to lead WDFW The treaty tribes of western Washington look forward to continuing to work with Phil Anderson as director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). Anderson was named the department’s permanent director Saturday by the nine-member commission….(read more at NWIFC website).

[Read more →]

Check out this news report of the Tribe’s freshwater mussel surveys on Skookum Creek.   http://www.king5.com/localnews/environment/stories/NW_082609ENB_divers-freshwater-mussels-JM.11bc2a6de.html?rss

[Read more →]

Two new videos of the tribe’s shellfish growth tracking project are posted here. Tribal biologists are numbering clams with tiny numbered red tags and by simply writing on them.  Clam growth is typically measured by randomly surveying clams on a beach, but that technique isn’t very exact. You can also hear about the project here.

[Read more →]

Squaxin Island Tribe’s shellfish department will begin clam population surveys in Vaughn Bay, Pierce County this week. The surveys will occur on privately owned tidelands within the bay. This area had previously been closed to commercial shellfish harvest due to water quality problems, but has recently been upgraded to approved status. Approximately sixty parcels have [...]

[Read more →]

SHELTON (April 1, 2009) – Preliminary data released today by the state Department of Ecology has identified dioxin in sediment throughout Oakland Bay. Outside of Shelton Harbor, the dioxin is distributed uniformly with an average concentration of 35 parts per trillion (ppt or pg/g). “At first glance, the distribution pattern suggests the dioxin may be [...]

[Read more →]

On March 17th the Squaxin Island shellfish department began installation of a sub-tidal geoduck “show-plot” near the North end of Hartstene Island (photo 1). This is useful in sub-tidal geoduck biomass surveys as it allows us to properly calibrate our surveys to local variations and account for temporal variability in show factors. These show plots [...]

[Read more →]