Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are at the center of social–ecological systems that have supported Indigenous peoples around the North Pacific Rim since time immemorial. Through generations of interdependence with salmon, Indigenous Peoples developed sophisticated systems of management involving cultural and spiritual beliefs, and stewardship practices. Colonization radically altered these social–ecological systems, disrupting Indigenous management, consolidating authority within colonial governments, and moving most harvest into mixed-stock fisheries. We review Indigenous management of salmon, including selective fishing technologies, harvest practices, and governance grounded in multigenerational place-based knowledge. These systems and practices showcase pathways for sustained productivity and resilience in contemporary salmon fisheries. Contrasting Indigenous systems with contemporary management, we document vulnerabilities of colonial governance and harvest management that have contributed to declining salmon fisheries in many locations. We suggest that revitalizing traditional systems of salmon management can improve prospects for sustainable fisheries and healthy fishing communities and identify opportunities for their resurgence.

Conventional harvest techniques used in mixed‐stock commercial salmon fisheries frequently result in bycatch mortality, thereby impeding salmonid recovery and constraining fishing opportunities in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. To address the problem, a postrelease survival study was conducted in the Columbia River to evaluate the potential of an experimental salmon trap for stock‐selective commercial harvest. A modified fish trap was constructed and operated in 2017, from August through September, with the goal of minimizing entanglement, air exposure, crowding, and handling of all captured fishes. Postrelease survival from the trap was estimated through a paired release–recapture study. Results demonstrate that the trap effectively targeted commercially viable quantities of hatchery‐origin Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and Coho Salmon O. kisutch while reducing bycatch mortality rates relative to conventional commercial fishing gears. During the study, 7,129 salmonids were captured. The postrelease survival effect over a 400‐km migration ranged from 0.944 (SE¯ = 0.046) for steelhead O. mykiss to 0.995 (SE¯ = 0.078) for Chinook Salmon, supporting the potential application of traps for stock‐selective commercial harvest.

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The utility of commercial salmonid Oncorhynchus spp. traps in the U.S. Pacific Northwest was recently revisited for the first time in decades to enable selective harvesting of hatchery-origin salmonids while reducing mortality of Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed salmonids. Modifications to historical gear designs resulted in dramatic improvements in salmonid bycatch survival rates relative to conventional commercial gears in the lower Columbia River. Expanding upon this work, an experimental commercial fish trap was further modified to largely eliminate net contact, air exposure, handling, and crowding of fish. Studies were conducted from May to November 2019 in the lower Columbia River to estimate survival of bycatch and evaluate potential benefits from the modified passive capture design. Analyzed through two separate survival estimation techniques, the modified trap demonstrated no detectable effect on salmon release survival and a significant improvement over the previous prototype design. Estimated through a paired release-recapture methodology, the relative survival effect of catch and release compared to controls over a 400-km migration was 1.017 (bSE = 0.032) for adult Sockeye Salmon O. nerka. For adult Coho Salmon O. kisutch that were held captive for a 48-h postrelease period, estimated survival (S) was 1.000 (lower 95% confidence limit: S ≥ 0.978). These results suggest that trap modifications can be made to significantly reduce bycatch mortality of ESA-listed salmonids and provide increased opportunity for harvest of hatchery-origin salmonids. Many wild salmonid Oncorhynchus spp. evolutionarily significant units in the Columbia River basin of the U.S. Pacific Northwest are currently listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and remain in decline as a result of harvest impacts, habitat loss, hatcheries, and climate change (Nehlsen et al. 1991; Lichatowich 1999; NWFSC 2015; Crozier 2016). This includes 13 evolutionarily significant units of wild-origin steelhead O. mykiss (anadromous Rainbow Trout), Chinook Salmon O. tshawytscha, Coho Salmon O. kisutch, Chum Salmon O. keta, and Sockeye Salmon O. nerka (NWFSC 2015). Hatchery production of salmonids is used

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