Miners blast back at Karuk Tribe

Gold miners whose activities were challenged by the Karuk Tribe on the middle-Klamath River have now fired back with an attack on the tribe's ancient fishery at Ishi Pishi falls.

The “New 49'ers” -- a club whose members pan and dredge for gold recreationally -- and other mining and recreation groups are asking the California Fish and Game Commission to put an end to the traditional Karuk fishery, saying the state is ignoring wanton destruction of salmon. The petition comes shortly after the tribe and some environmental groups asked Fish and Game to eliminate suction dredging for gold in an effort to protect spawning grounds.

”At a time when the federal government is poised to ban ocean salmon fishing for the second year in a row, it makes no sense for the state to turn a blind eye to the wholesale slaughter of salmon by the tribe,” according to “New 49'ers” member Mike Higbee of Grants Pass, Ore.

The tribe said that it tracks the number of salmon its fishermen catch using large dip nets, and that they haven't caught more than 200 fish, even in banner years. Karuk Klamath Campaign Coordinator Craig Tucker said that there are rarely enough fish available from the Ishi Pishi falls fishery for even ceremonial uses.

Protected coho salmon are also always let go, Tucker said, and they're let go alive because the nets they use aren't like lethal gill nets.

The petition appears to follow up on a threat a mining claim holders' attorney made in response to the Karuk's challenge to suction dredging regulations. A Jan. 9 letter from Portland, Ore. firm Murphy & Buchal representing North-Star International Ship Traders claims the tribe and conservation groups were using false and misleading statements in their petition, and calls the tribe's stance hypocritical.

”Accordingly, please take notice that North-Star will exercise all available remedies against you if mining is restricted based on your misrepresentations,” attorney James Buchal wrote.

The California Department of Fish and Game once used to arrest Karuks fishing at Ishi Pishi falls outside of Orleans. In 1979, the department's rule-making commission adopted regulations to allow the Karuks to dip net only at Ishi Pishi, and adhere to the same limit of chinook salmon sport fishermen are allowed.

The fishery is not closely watched from the outside, and it's not included in the allocation of fish to the other two tribes that have federally recognized fishing rights, the Yurok and the Hoopa Valley tribes. Federal fisheries managers split the harvestable number of chinook salmon between the two tribes and the river's sport fishermen, ocean sport fishermen and ocean commercial fishermen.

The “New 49'ers” argue that the commission has illegally granted fishing privileges to a specific group of people -- the Karuks -- in violation of the state constitution. They claim that the tribe kills far more salmon than gold mining and other activities combined.

The petition could open up a murky area of the law. Fish and Game Fisheries Branch Chief Neil Manji said that the department intends to reply in a letter to the “New 49'ers” regarding the question about the legality of allowing the tribe fishing privileges.

”I don't know where the department is going with it,” Manji said.

Depending on how far the mining groups want to take the challenge, Craig Tucker said, the tribe may decide to seek federal fishing rights as a remedy.