Resident Fisheries Division

CONTACT INFORMATION

Orofino          208-476-7417 PHONE      208-476-0719 FAX

VISION

Manage resident fish, habitat and fisheries within the Nez Perce Reservation and the 1855 Treaty area.  Provide leadership in regional efforts to restore native resident fish populations.  Enhance resident fishery opportunities in support of traditional Nez Perce resident fishing rights.

GOALS

1. Conserve, restore and recover native resident fish populations including sturgeon, westslope cutthroat trout, and bull trout.
2. Rebuild resident fish populations in order to restore and sustain traditional subsistence fisheries for native resident fish species.
3. Provide and manage expanded resident fisheries to partly offset the loss of fishing opportunities caused by the permanent blockage at Dworshak Dam.
4. Restore and maintain normative hydrologic regimes along with suitable water quality to benefit native resident and anadromous fish.

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

The Resident Fisheries Division conducts studies, provides implementation recommendations, and applies resource monitoring to restore native fish populations, protect and manage traditional subsistence fishing opportunities, and provide additional resident fishing opportunities.  Input is provided to regional water management forums to promote ecosystems that support the full rang of life history needs for native resident and anadromous fish.

STAFF

The Resident Fisheries Division is headquartered at the Orofino Fisheries Field Office and is overseen by Director Dave Statler.  Staff needs vary somewhat seasonally, but involve about 5 full-time equivalents (FTE's).  Administrative assistant Chris Nahsonhoya provides office support to the Resident Fisheries Division, as well as other programs at the Orofino Field Office.

PROGRAM COMPONENTS

• Ponds Project:  Manage, develop and evaluate pond-based resident fisheries throughout the Reservation.

• Westslope Cutthroat Trout:  Apply published assessment data to promote continued persistence of westslope cutthroat trout, including reducing and minimizing hybridization with non-native rainbow trout.

• Dworshak Investigations:  Promote operational strategies to benefit fisheries both upstream and downstream of Dworshak Dam.

• Consumptive Sturgeon Fishery:  Evaluate and develop sturgeon fisheries for Tribal harvest in Oxbow and Hells Canyon Reservoirs (project start-up delayed by Bonneville Power Administration FY 2006).

• Snake River In-season Management: Participate in regional groups involved in setting in-season operations to interject needs of fishery resources with the 1855 Treaty area, especially as related to Dworshak Reservoir, the Lower Clearwater River, Hells Canyon Complex and the four lower Snake River dams and reservoirs.

• Regional Fish Management Forums:  Actively participate in forums, such as the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority and the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, that input to Bonneville Power Administration's funding priorities for fisheries resources projects.