The Yurok Tribe is calling on its members and other California Indians to exercise their traditional gathering rights at beaches across the northern coast.

Gathering has been limited as the state places more beaches and coastal areas under the Marine Life Protection Act. Tribes say they haven't been consulted and that their rights haven't been taken into account.

“The tribe’s rights are nonnegotiable,” Chairman Thomas O’Rourke Sr., said in a press release. “As long as we are here, we will continue to gather in culturally appropriate way that is beneficial to all species.”

Tribal members plan to be at three beaches tomorrow morning to exercise their rights.

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Tribes protest MPLA mussel gathering restrictions; members to practice traditional harvest Saturday (The Eureka Times-Standard 6/17)