9th Cir.;
15-35540

The court of appeals affirmed a district court judgment. The court held that the “usual and accustomed” fishing grounds and stations of the Suquamish Indian Tribe, as determined by Judge Boldt in 1975, do not include certain waters contested by the upper Skagit Tribe.

In 1975, Judge Boldt issued a decision delineating the “usual and accustomed” (U&A) fishing grounds and stations of the Suquamish Indian Tribe. Neighboring tribes later filed actions challenging the Suquamish's U&A determinations. In 2010, in one of those proceedings, the Ninth Circuit determined that “Judge Boldt intended something different than the plain text of the Suquamish U & A finding.” In 2014, the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe filed a request for determination that the Suquamish U&A determinations did not include Chuckanut Bay, Samish Bay, and a portion of Padilla Bay where the Upper Skagit had its own court-approved U&A determinations.