Oregon Appeals Court Sides With Tribes and Strikes Down ODFW Rule Allowing Salmon to Be Trapped and Trucked
In the Court of Appeals of the State of Oregon, the applicants, including the Nez Perce Tribe as well as the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, succeeded in overturning a December 2022 rule that would have allowed the trapping and transportation of migratory fish, such as salmon.
ODFW Migratory Fish Trapping Rule Struck Out
Tribal rights prevailed as Oregon salmon’s natural flow was restored last month after the Appeal Court reinstated Oregon’s long-standing requirement that artificial barriers to fish migration, like dams, be upgraded to allow fish to swim freely.
Source: ODFW 2025 Fish Passage Priority List background and progress notes
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The judge found that a 2022 rule by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission (OFWC) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) did not comply with the notice requirements of ORS 183.335.
The court noted that “The lack of notice [deprived] people whose interests are historically, culturally, and integrally intertwined with the policies at issue of a role in the process.”
ODFW’s new rule allowed dam operators to use a process with much lower survival rates- trapping salmon and loading them into trucks for transport around dams, which conflicts with the return of the waterways to their natural state.
The court struck down ODFW’s new rule allowing dam operators to load trapped salmon into trucks for transport around dams.
| Reference | What it requires | Why it mattered here |
|---|---|---|
| ORS 183.335 | Detailed public notice and comment before rule changes | The court found the 2022 rule failed notice requirements |
| OAR 635 Division 412 | State policy to provide upstream and downstream passage at artificial obstructions | The rule change would have eased that long standing approach |
| ORS 509.585 | Statutory authority for fish passage policy and exemptions | Anchors the state’s default expectation of passage |
| 2022 OFWC rule change | Allowed more reliance on trapping and trucking around dams | Struck down for process flaws rather than a full merits ruling |
This process has shown much lower survival rates. The conservation and fishing groups in the legal challenge included Columbia Riverkeeper.
Miles Johnson, Legal Director for Columbia Riverkeeper, confirmed that healthy fisheries are vital to Tribes, river communities, and Oregon’s culture and economy, and deserve the highest level of protection.
- Dec 2022: OFWC adopts amended fish passage rules.
- Jan 1 2023: Amendments take effect.
- 2023-2024: Tribes and conservation groups challenge the rule.
- Nov 26 2025: Oregon Court of Appeals overturns the 2022 rule.
- Dec 2025: Long standing passage expectations return statewide.