Nez Perce Tribe Selling Hatchery Chinook Salmon

Contact: Sharon Kiefer, IDFG, 334-3791 or Samuel N. Penney, Chairman, Nez Perce Tribe, 843-7355 Nez Perce tribal members will be selling hatchery chinook salmon this year, which are part of their treaty harvest share. Attorney General Al Lance has agreed that such sales are consistent with Nez Perce treaty rights. Idaho is receiving an extraordinary run of hatchery spring chinook. Good river conditions for out-migrating smolts in 1999 and improved ocean productivity while the fish were at sea are credited for the big increase in adult return. The projection for the hatchery spring chinook run at Lower Granite Dam is 56,400-83,400. Lower Granite is the last large federal dam the fish must cross before they enter Idaho. The total potential hatchery surplus return to Idaho is estimated to be at least 40,000 adult chinook. Anyone purchasing salmon from a Nez Perce tribal member will receive a purchase receipt. If checked while transporting a salmon, it will be important to clarify whether it was caught or bought. There is no limit to the number of salmon that may be purchased from a tribal member, but the receipt should tell how many were bought. Tribal members will sell only hatchery salmon. No wild salmon, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act, will be sold. Any resale of salmon by non-tribal people must be done under the guidelines of Idaho state code, which requires a commercial seller's permit issued by Fish and Game.