Vessel traffic safety on the Salish Sea affects the lifeways of Coast Salish people on both sides of the U.S. and Canadian border.  Over the past several years, the Coast Salish Gathering has focused attention on the impact of current conflicts with large vessel traffic, and the resulting impact on the Coast Salish Way of Life.  The goal of the transboundary summit is to ensure this critical issue remains a central focus in transboundary agency policy and regulatory work in 2018/2019, alongside the other ongoing good work on oil spill preparedness/response.  

This transboundary summit follows up on some groundbreaking work on the same non-oil spill issues between U.S. treaty fishing tribes and federal and state agencies, at a U.S.-side summit on September 29, 2017 hosted by the Tulalip Tribes.  

While the Coast Salish Gathering meetings are not direct government-to-government meetings or consultation, the leaders of our sovereign Coast Salish nations welcome this opportunity to share perspectives and to rekindle and strengthen working relationships with their counterparts in federal, state and provincial governments on these important issues currently affecting the Coast Salish Way of Life.