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- By Native News Online Staff
Pacific Northwest hatcheries that produce Pacific salmon and steelhead just received a $240 million boon, thanks to Thurday’s announcement from the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Commerce.
The Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) partnered with the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to deliver funding to regional tribes, with the aim of restoring salmon in the Columbia River Basin, according to a July 25 press release.
“Since time immemorial, tribes in the Pacific Northwest have relied on Pacific salmon, steelhead and other native fish species for sustenance and their cultural and spiritual ways of life,” said Secretary Deb Haaland in the announcement. “This funding will help us deliver historic investments from the President’s Investing in America agenda that will empower Indigenous communities and safeguard resources they have stewarded since time immemorial.”
Millions of fish are produced in tribal hatcheries each year, accounting to the Department, driving tribal employment and subsistence, nutrition for tribal families, and the preservation of cultural traditions and recreation. As habitat is restored and reconnected to better support natural fish production, hatcheries will remain a critical tool to supplement fish for tribal and non-tribal fisheries, as well as other salmon-dependent animals and ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest.
As of yesterday’s announcement, an initial $54 million was made available to 27 tribes in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska to address current hatchery facility maintenance and modernization necessities, and to support tribal capacity needs. The remaining funding will be made available competitively to help tribes address the long-term viability, the Department said.
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