And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1999 08:32:15 EDT
Subject: Court: Tribes May Harvest Shellfish
Court: Tribes May Harvest Shellfish
.c The Associated Press
By HAL SPENCER
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- Private property owners and commercial shellfish
growers were stunned by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming Washington
tribes' right to harvest shellfish on private beaches.
State officials, shellfish growers and private property owners contended the
American Indians' 19th century treaties give them no legal claim to shellfish
on private property.
But the high court on Monday rejected without comment an appeal of a ruling
by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the tribes' shellfish
rights.
``Our members are devastated,'' said Bill Dewey, a spokesman for the Puget
Sound Shellfish Growers Association. ``This is an incredible burden for the
growers.''
Commercial shellfish growers contend the ruling could threaten their
livelihoods and ``will cripple or destroy the growers'' by allowing tribal
members to enter their property.
Tribal leaders said the ruling does not mean American Indians will be
indiscriminately tramping private beaches to dig clams, mussels and other
shellfish.
``It's a long process before you can go on a beach and harvest,'' said Doug
Williams, a spokesman for the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
``There must be a biological assessment of the area, sampling and testing,
and a written notice. In fact, as far as I know, there has been only one
harvest off of a private landowner's beach'' since the case began with a 1994
ruling on tribal shellfish rights in U.S. District Court.
Lawyers for the 17 Indian tribes noted that the 9th U.S. Circuit ruling
allows tribes to harvest only shellfish that would exist naturally, without
the growers' help.
Dewey doesn't see it that way.
``The burden is on the grower to prove'' which shellfish are naturally
occurring and which are not ``for every bed,'' he said. ``This is an
incredible burden for the growers.''
Under treaties signed in 1855, the tribes gave up most of their land in
then-Washington Territory in exchange for reservations, money and the right
to continue fishing in traditional fishing grounds.
A series of court rulings during the 1970s defined what areas are traditional
Indian fishing grounds, and affirmed the tribes' right to take up to half of
the salmon and other fish.
In 1994, U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie said shellfish are also covered
by the 1970s rulings. The 9th Circuit upheld most of Rafeedie's ruling and
allowed the Indians to harvest shellfish on some private cultivated beds.
AP-NY-04-06-99 0831EDT
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP
news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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