The state Department of Fish and Wildlife will not work with area Native American tribes to get the federal permit to hold salmon fisheries, the agency announced Tuesday.
The department met with tribal leaders Tuesday in Shelton but the talks reached an impasse, according to a state news release. Tribal officials are expected to seek federal permits as well.
The state has worked with the tribes to set the fishing quotas every year since the mid-1980s.
The permit is required for there to be fisheries in Puget Sound because fish stocks there are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
“There likely is not going to be any fisheries this summer,” said Ron Warren, who runs the department’s salmon program, “but we’ll be working to get people on the water as soon as we can.”
