LAPUSH — Four boats occupied by sport anglers took to the Quillayute River on Thursday in protest of tribal net fishing after last Saturday’s emergency closure of the river’s sport salmon fishery.
About 50 protesters were on hand at Leyendecker Park, where the Sol Duc and Bogachiel rivers meet to form the Quillayute four miles east of town.
A handful of tribal fishermen collecting coho salmon from nylon nets Thursday afternoon were the targets of the protest.
State Fish and Wildlife Department Sgt. Steve DeMiero said the protest went off peacefully — no arrests were made and no fines issued.
Anglers casting into the water removed hooks from their lures, he said.
“It was a real good, quiet protest, which is their right,” DeMiero said of the anglers. “They respected the tribal fishers.”
Six Fish and Wildlife officers were on hand for the protest, he said.
LaPush police and Olympic National Park officers were also at the park.
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