May 7, 2023 –The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe will conduct a limited fish harvest on the lower Elwha River this October, the first time the river has been open to any fishing in more than a decade.
The tribe, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and Olympic National Park have announced a limited Tribal Ceremonial and Subsistence Fishery for coho salmon on the lower three miles of the river.
The fishery has been closed to commercial and recreational fishing since 2011, when dam removal on the river began.
Recreational and commercial fishing will resume when there is broad distribution of spawning adults above the former dam sites, spawning rates allow for population growth and diversity, and a harvestable surplus of fish are returning to the Elwha River, according to a press release.
Mountain lakes in the Elwha basin within the national park and Lake Sutherland opened to sport fishing the fourth Saturday in April and will remain accessible for fishing through Oct. 31.
The dams, installed more than 100 years ago, devastated the salmon population in the river and the fishery was closed following the dams’ removal to allow fish populations to rebuild their populations.