Marine Focus Area

Since time immemorial, the Trinidad Rancheria Tribal community has depended on the rich diversity of marine resources found within Rancheria lands and throughout the ancestral territory as part of their daily lives. Rancheria Tribal Elders share memories of the subsistence harvest of crab (ko–’ses), salmon (ney-puey), smelt (hehl-kues-leg), mussels (pee-’eeh), and clams (chper-ger') along the rocky beaches within the Rancheria’s borders, and of engaging in prayer and ceremony at sacred grounds along the coastline. Today, the Rancheria continues to invest in their Tribal community and the broader North Coast community as they own and operate the Trinidad Bay Pier and Harbor to ensure a balance of commercial, recreational, and cultural uses of the local marine environment and resources. The Rancheria honors the Bay and its pristine beginnings under Native American stewardship by supporting cultural well-being and economic development for the North Coast. 

Vision 

The vision of the Trinidad Rancheria Marine Program is to co-manage the Tribe’s ancestral coastal and marine environment and resources for the sustainability and resiliency of local ecosystems and the community using Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK).

Mission

The mission of the Trinidad Rancheria Marine Program is to protect, restore, and sustainably co-manage resources to achieve healthy and diverse ecosystems, sustainable fisheries, economic viability, and generational prosperity. The Tribe will fulfill this mission through community-driven marine stewardship, integration of TEK with Western science, attainment of Tribal subsistence harvest, and strong relationships with Local, State, National, and Tribal Nations.  

Our Staff

Guided by Tribal heritage and culture, the Tribe honors the inherent balance and interconnectedness of the ocean and coastal communities to serve as leaders in ocean stewardship.

Guiding Principle

Marine Focus Areas

  • Tribal Subsistence Harvest

    This focus area is on the political, regulatory, and/or legal processes in pursuit of advancing Tribal sovereignty and attaining Tribal subsistence harvest for cultural keystone species.

    Coming Soon!

  • Fisheries Management

    This focus area is on innovative laboratory and/or field-based exploratory research of cultural keystone species and fisheries of cultural, social, recreational, and economic importance residing within the marine, estuarine, and coastal ecosystems at the land-sea interface of Trinidad Bay. Projects seek to address emerging physical, chemical, biological, ecological, and societal processes that impact the health, conservation, and management of the keystone species and fisheries.

    Coming Soon!

  • Hatchery

    This focus area is on the engineering and design, permitting, construction, implementation, and long-term monitoring and management of a hatchery facility. Projects seek to support the long-term production and management of aquaculture species for Tribal subsistence harvest, education, and research through breeding, rearing, and harvesting of cultural keystone species.

    Coming Soon!

  • Conservation & Restoration

    This focus area is on the engineering and design, permitting, implementation, and long-term monitoring of projects that conserve and restore marine, estuarine, and coastal ecosystems at the land-sea interface. Projects seek to support the sustainability or recovery of cultural keystone species and their habitats and increase ecosystem and community resilience.

    • First US Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area [link to blog]

  • Environmental Monitoring

    This focus area is on the long-term monitoring of the physics, chemistry, biology, and ecology of the marine, estuarine, and coastal ecosystems at the land-sea interface. Environmental monitoring projects seek to observe and assess changes to cultural keystone species, their habitats, and ecosystems, or establish a baseline understanding if unknown.

    • The Rancheria Reaffirms Tribal Natural Resource Management [link to blog]