Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

The Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) is a tribally owned firm and intertribal consortium representing 20 federally recognized tribes in Western Washington that provides natural resources management support and technical assistance to its member tribes. As a tribal government entity registered in SAM.gov since June 2004, NWIFC serves as a critical liaison between its member tribes, federal agencies, and state authorities on environmental protection, fisheries management, and salmon recovery initiatives. The organization delivers comprehensive grant-funded services focused on coordinating tribal environmental programs, managing fisheries data, supporting salmon recovery efforts, and facilitating tribal engagement in Puget Sound restoration and water quality protection activities.

NWIFC has secured substantial federal grant funding from multiple agencies to support diverse environmental and fisheries management initiatives across its service area. The organization has received cooperative agreements and project grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA Region 10) totaling over $2.5 million to coordinate tribal water quality programs, upgrade the Tribal Water Quality Data Exchange system to EPA WQX 3.0 standards, support Puget Sound recovery and restoration efforts through the Tribal Implementation Lead (TIL 2.0) program, and facilitate tribal engagement in management conference forums. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded NWIFC more than $7 million through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund and Pacific Salmon Treaty Program for salmon recovery planning, habitat monitoring, fisheries data collection, and addressing threats to ESA-listed salmonids in the Puget Sound and coastal Washington regions. The Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service has provided recurring project grants for the Treaty Indian Catch Monitoring Program (TICMP), which maintains a database of catch data collected from fish receiving tickets to support fisheries management, pre-season planning, and federal reporting requirements. Additionally, NWIFC received cooperative agreements from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for training and education initiatives, chronic wasting disease preparedness, and emergency preparedness outreach to member tribes. The organization also functions as a pass-through entity managing subawards to individual tribes and authorized tribal consortia, and has received sub-awards from The Recreation & Conservation Office and the University of Washington to support hatchery reform projects, juvenile fish marking and tagging operations, and environmental justice initiatives. Through these grants, NWIFC delivers strategic coordination, technical support, data management, policy development, training, and programmatic oversight that strengthen tribal environmental capacity and advance long-term conservation of salmon and steelhead populations to support treaty rights and tribal cultures.