The Lummi Tribe, located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, has requested federal financial relief for its fishers and communities following years of “dismal” salmon fishery returns.
“Our fisheries have suffered a huge impact due to the decline in salmon production,” Lummi Indian Business Council Chairman Anthony Hillaire said in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce. “With no or reduced fisheries harvest during 2020 to 2024, the Lummi Nation’s fishing community is in despair and needs expedited financial assistance and relief.”
The Tribe has issued a request to the U.S. Department of Commerce concerning fisheries disaster determinations for several recent poor salmon runs, including in the Fraser River sockeye salmon fishery in 2020, 2021, and 2023, the Fraser River chum salmon fishery in 2020, 2021, and 2023, the Fraser River pink salmon fishery in 2021 and 2023, the Nooksack River chum salmon fishery in 2020 and 2023, and the Nooksack River coho and pink salmon fisheries in 2023.
Hillaire claims the poor salmon runs have cost the Lummi fishing community roughly USD 7.2 million (EUR 6.9 million) dollars, with revenue loss ranging from 43 percent to 100 percent across the salmon fisheries in the Fraser and Nooksack rivers.
“This has had a significant impact on the financial stability of fishers, threatening their ability to earn a modest living,” Hillaire said.
The Lummi Nation has roughly 600 registered fishers and over 450 registered fishing vessels.
The Tribe has also claimed that declining salmon populations have damaged its cultural practices and treaty rights to harvest fish and shellfish from its accustomed fishing grounds and is seeking financial compensation for that issue, too.
“The decline of salmon has equally affected our ability to conduct ceremonial and subsistence fisheries and our ability to incorporate salmon into our cultural practices,” Hillaire said. “The fishing disasters have had a lasting and harmful effect on the Lummi Nation's cultural, spiritual, and traditional ways of life. The Lummi Nation believes it is impossible to assign a dollar value to the losses we have experienced in relation to our ceremonial and subsistence fisheries, but we can tell you that it is, at minimum, equivalent to the USD 7.2 million lost in commercial fishing-based revenue.”
The Lummi Tribe also requested fishery disaster determinations for its green sea urchin fisheries for the 2021-2022 and 2023-2024 seasons.
