USA, et al v. State of Washington, et al

Filing 21409

ORDER REGARDING 2017 OPENING HALIBUT SUB-FISHERY by Judge Ricardo S Martinez. (RS)

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1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 6 7 8 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et al., Case No. C70-9213RSM 9 Plaintiffs, Subproceeding No. 91-1 10 12 ORDER REGARDING 2017 OPENING HALIBUT SUB-FISHERY v. 11 STATE OF WASHINGTON, et al., 13 Defendants. 14 15 16 17 THIS MATTER comes before the Court on the Quileute Indian Tribe’s Notice of InSeason Dispute pertaining to the 2017 opening sub-fishery in the tribal halibut fishery, scheduled for March 11, 2017. Subproceeding 91-1, Dkt. #457.1 Prior to seeking a Court 18 19 Order, the Tribes engaged in a technical review process by the Fisheries Advisory Board 20 (“FAB”) pursuant to Section 6(n) of the management measures. See Subproceeding 91-1, Dkts. 21 #292, Ex. B, #439, #440, and #442.2 The participating Tribes included: Quileute, Quinault, 22 Makah, Lower Elwha S’Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Suquamish, 23 Swinomish, Tulalip, Lummi, Nooksack, Skokomish, and the Hoh Tribe. Representatives from 24 25 the Point No Point Treaty Council (“PNPTC”) also participated. 26 27 1 28 2 C70-9213RSM, Dkt. #21407. All remaining citations refer to those documents filed in Subproceeding 91-1. ORDER PAGE - 1 1 2 3 4 According to the report of FAB Chairman Dr. Howard F. Horton, prior to the FAB, the Tribes’ positions with respect to the length of the fishery were as follows: 36-37 hours: Lower Elwha Klallam 37 hours: Swinomish, Jamestown S’Klallam, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Quileute, 5 Nooksack, Skokomish and Hoh 6 7 8 9 10 40 hours: Quinault 48 hours: Makah and Lummi Dr. Horton did not report any specific preference by the Tulalip Tribe. However, after convening the FAB, the Tribes were able to come to an agreed range of 37 to 40 hours. Dr. 11 Horton reports that most Tribes favor the 37-hour option because it has been predicted by the 12 13 PNPTC model to be the most likely to achieve the 46.5% harvest of the Total Allowable Catch 14 permitted by the International Pacific Halibut Commission without causing over-harvest of 15 halibut. Dr. Horton further reports that there is a concern by the Tribes about a predicted high 16 tide series on March 11, 2017, which is reportedly higher than normal, and has not been 17 18 accounted for in the PNPTC model. 19 Having reviewed the Report and Recommendation submitted in writing to the Court by 20 Dr. Horton, the Court now hereby finds and ORDERS that the opening sub-fishery shall last for 21 39 hours, starting on Saturday, March 11, 2017. The Court finds that this amount of time 22 fairly balances the weather and tidal concerns of the various Tribes. 23 24 DATED this 2nd day of March 2017. 25 A 26 27 RICARDO S. MARTINEZ CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 28 ORDER PAGE - 2

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