Page 2 - Chehalis Tribal Newsletter - March 2024

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ABOUT FISH & WILDLIFE

The Chehalis Tribe program has six staff members:
n Fish & Wildlife Manager Shawn Ortivez, who
oversees all of the staff
n Fish & Wildlife Biologist Tara Livingood-Schott
n Hatchery Supervisor Jesse McMahan
n Fish & Wildlife Technicians Todd Delamater, Hector
Canales and Anthony Youckton Sr.
The program provides various functions and
services for the tribal community, such as fish cooks
for tribal events and funeral services. Fisheries also
hosts a Family Fishing Day to encourage the activity
with youth on the reservation.
Fish & Wildlife manages fishing seasons with the
Fish Committee and tribal fishermen.
Other duties: test fishing, identifying fish buyers to
ensure fishermen get the best price for their catch
and fish cleaning/freezing for community needs
Fisheries also oversees Rotary Screw Trap on a
part of the Chehalis River near Pe Ell. This is where
they gather data about out-migrating fish. They also
conduct field surveys for endangered species such
as freshwater mussels and invasive species such as
Brazilian elodea and parrotfeather.

SALMON
From page 1

a decade of experience in the fish hatchery
industry. He worked at Cowlitz Trout Hatchery
for eight years followed by two years at
Skookumchuck Hatchery.
McMahan said as supervisor, he does
“everything under the sun for fish culture,”
which includes spawning and feeding fish
in the hatchery to increase reproduction of
the fish species. The tribe receives coho eggs
from the state Department of Fish & Wildlife.
McMahan said eggs for the batch of fish
released in April came from Skookumchuck,
where he previously worked.
There are three main purposes for fish
hatcheries: production, enhancement and
research. Although the Chehalis Tribe’s
Fisheries program supplements (enhances)
in some instances, it’s primarily focused on
production. The goal is to have the coho
released in April return in three to four years
when Chehalis tribal fisherman will have a
chance to catch them.
Salmon acclimate and imprint in the water
they are raised in and will naturally seek to
return to that body of water. For that reason,
fish that were about to be released were placed
in a tank filled with water from Black River.
The tanks are located outside of the hatchery
so fish can become acclimated to the natural
temperature as well. Because the tribe’s
hatchery doesn’t have tanks large enough to Young coho salmon swim in a tank at the Chehalis Tribe’s
hold all 25,000 coho, two releases were needed. Hatchery. The fish are a building block for the future.
The tribe followed state and federal
guidelines to schedule the release. Guidelines
are backed by years of science and research
and have proven to work best for production.