“Disappointed is an understatement,” Brian Cladoosby, chairman of the Swinomish Tribe, said of the state’s decision. “Our salmon and steelhead are on the brink. Potentially introducing more diseases or genetic defects into our native steelhead is very disappointing.”
Cladoosby said “dire returns” of steelhead from the ocean have disrupted tribal fisheries for years and that the decision risks the species’ local recovery on rivers like the Skagit. He added that Cooke’s infrastructure restricts access to traditional tribal fishing areas.
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