Salmon History

In the history of Native Americans, salmon have been fished for for thousands of years. They had a happy life with nature, honoring the salmon. Many legends of the Native Americans include salmon. The Natives used every part of the salmon. They used bones for tools and the meat part and organs for food. Then the white settlers came. They fished for salmon, yet they did not use every part of the salmon's body and the salmon population started to decrease.

Later salteries and then canneries were developed. Salteries are places where people salt fish to preserve them. Canneries are places where fish are canned to sell in stores. A few of these would be : Living Silver, Saginaw Bay, Loring and Tonka.They still only used the meat part of the salmon. The canneries poured the excess parts of the salmon into streams causing pollution. This caused the salmon to die faster. Hatcheries were built to save salmon. But salmon born in hatcheries could not find food , jump, or protect themselves as well as wild salmon.

Dams were put up and since the salmon couldn't get over the dams, some species started to die out like the Chinook salmon. Some people believe that this is the reason that some species are endangered. A few dams on the Columbia River are: the Bonneville Dam, The John Day Dam, The Dalles Dam, McNary Dam, Priest Rapids Dam, Rocky Island Dam, The Rocky Reach Dam, The Wells Dam, the Chief Joseph Dam, and The Grand Coulee Dam. There are also a lot of dams on the other major rivers in Washington State.

Former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton has secured $18 million for the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board. The Board will divide the money among the people who live near streams and creeks and are helping the salmon survive. Slade Gorton is also hoping to secure $14 million for Alaska and $ 9 million each for California and Oregon. He may get $19 million for the hatcheries along the Columbia River. Gorton is trying to secure $60 million for the treaty reached by the US and Canada. This went into action this year. He also wanted $ 8.575 million for research at Northwest Fisheries. Gorton hopes the Senate will agree with him and help him. On June 3, 1999, Gov. Tony Knowles of Alaska, Gov. Gary Locke of Washington, and Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon and the Treaty Tribes got together and announced the conservation of Pacific wild salmon. Under this treaty are three components. These are as follows: Harvests managed over the next 10 to 12 years, the making of funds to rebuild and repair the salmon habitat, and the cooperation of the US and Canada to share scientific information about salmon.