LAPUSH — Wildfire victims and firefighters in Eastern Washington will eat fresh salmon tonight thanks to the Quileute tribe and the state’s Sol Duc Fish Hatchery.
Tribal staff took 40 fresh coho and 40 smoked coho to the Tonasket Distribution Center on Wednesday.
A dinner for firefighters and fire victims is planned tonight, the tribe said.
Surplus coho salmon from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Sol Duc Fish Hatchery have historically been shared with the Quileute tribe and a local food bank, among others, but this year, the fish also are going to the Tonasket Distribution Center to aid displaced families and firefighters, the tribe said.
Helping hand
The center is assisting those affected by the Okanogan Complex Fire and North Star Fire on the Colville tribe’s reservation.
Jacob Turner, fisheries biologist for the Quileute tribe, grew up in the Okanogan Valley and got the idea about sending some fish to the area after talking to his parents, Paul and Brenda Turner.
“My parents are volunteering in the Tonasket Distribution Center that helps displaced families and firefighters with food and supplies,” Turner said.
More than 150 homes have burned in the Okanogan Complex Fire.
Quileute fisheries personnel gathered about 40 coho and filleted them, and tribal member Russell Woodruff and others smoked them.
Another group of volunteers packaged the fish.
“It’s for a good cause,” Woodruff said.
“I’m glad we can help out the people over there a little who care for the land. I wish we could do more. There are a lot of people displaced there.”
Smoked fish is good food for firefighters, who often ask for beef jerky as a portable protein, he added.