About

The Yakama Nation Fisheries Program (YNFP) has been collecting fisheries data and conducting status and trends reporting in one form or another since its inception in the 1980s. Without the resources or technologies available for adopting program-wide integrated data sharing systems, however, most data management and reporting has been locally based at project offices, with manual uploads to regional reporting entities and for individual requests. As the program has grown, it has become clear that a more efficient, consolidated, documented, and accessible system is needed.

In 2014, Yakama Nation Fisheries adopted a Strategic Information System Management Plan, the overall goal of which is to improve the ability to manage, exchange, and utilize data in a secure and efficient manner to support improved local and regional environmental management decisions. There are many steps and additional resources necessary before such a system can be fully implemented, including: data inventory, prioritization, consolidation and integration, and the development of systems, connectivity, and reporting tools. The development of this website as a portal to information and summary tools is one element in development of such an integrated system.

The STAR (Status and Trends Reporting) Project:

The goal of the STAR project is to provide access to comprehensive information to the YNFP staff and leadership of the Yakama Nation to support their management, decision making, and educational needs.  From Tribal Council members to project biologists, information needs to be summarized at various levels for multiple audiences. High level summary reports are produced annually, and more detailed information is available to staff through the STAR dashboard (in development, login required). For more information see “What is the STAR project…?” under the “Q&A” tab.

Other Projects Contributing and Collaborating:

While the STAR project summarizes information at a high level, it is supported by detailed information. As priority data is added to the integrated data management system, efficiency, timeliness, and usability increases. To suit individual projects’ needs as well as that of YNFP managers, priority project datasets are being integrated into the information management system iteratively, as time and resources allow. Once fed into the system, they can be shared and queried internally and with trusted partners and reporting sites, reducing the burden on project managers. First to be incorporated are the adult fish counts and samples from the Yakima River, YKFP Project. Updated in real-time, these datasets can be summarized with custom queries and technical reports. Accessible through the Nelson Springs and STAR Dashboards (with login). For more information see “What information is accessible through the Nelson Springs Dashboard?” under the “Q&A” tab.