the tribe without the consent of the tribe or the United States Government (citing United States v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 309 U. S. 506, and Turner v. United States, 248 U. S. 354), viewing the suit as one to 'extinguish a Tribal communal fishing right guaranteed by federal Treaty.' This case, however, is a suit to enjoin violations of state law by individual tribal members fishing off the reservation. As such, it is analogous to prosecution of individual Indians for crimes committed off reservation lands, a matter for which there has been no grant of exclusive jurisdiction to federal courts." 391 U. S. 392, 396-397, n. 11.

Thus, Puyallup I settled an important threshold question in this case-regardless of tribal sovereign immunity, individual defendant-members of the Puyallup Tribe remain amenable to the process of the Washington courts in connection with fishing activities occurring off their reservation. That conclusion was predicated on two separate propositions worthy of restatement here.

First, even though the individual defendants were members of the Tribe and therefore entitled to the benefits of the Treaty of Medicine Creek, that treaty as construed by this Court does not confer the complete individual immunity they claim. The State may qualify the Indians' right to fish "at all usual and accustomed places." Specifically, we held that the "manner of fishing, the size of the take, the restriction of commercial fishing, and the like may be regulated by the State in the interest of conservation, provided the regulation meets appropriate standards and does not discriminate against the Indians." Id., at 398.

Second, whether or not the Tribe itself may be sued in a state court without its consent or that of Congress, a suit to enjoin violations of state law by individual tribal members is permissible. The doctrine of sovereign immunity which was

applied in United States v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 309 U. S. 506, does not immunize the individual members of the Tribe.10

Although only the Tribe had entered an appearance in this Court in Puyallup I, because of its representation of its individual members, jurisdiction over the individuals existed. And since the state court's jurisdiction over the individual members was settled by Puyallup I, neither in that review nor in Puyallup II was any further consideration given to the status of the Tribe itself as a sovereign. It was after our decision in Puyallup II, when the trial court was required to determine the portion of the steelhead run that could be allocated to net fishing by the members of the Tribe, that the state court first entered an order which, in terms, is directed to the Tribe rather than to the individual defendants. That order places a limit on the number of steelhead which all members of the Tribe may catch with nets, and also directs the Tribe to identify the members engaged in the steelhead fishery and to report the number of fish they catch each week. In the trial court, in the Supreme Court of Washington, and in this Court, the Tribe has attacked that order as an infringement on its sovereign immunity to which neither it nor Congress has consented.

The attack is well founded. Absent an effective waiver or consent, it is settled that a state court may not exercise jurisdiction over a recognized Indian tribe. This Court,

10 That case involved an action brought in a federal court by the United States on behalf of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations to recover royalties under a mineral lease; defendant was the lessee's surety. In an earlier bankruptcy proceeding, the lessee had obtained a judgment for $9,060.90 pursuant to a cross-claim against the same tribes. In the Fidelity case the lessee's surety pleaded the earlier judgment as a bar to recovery in the action for royalties. We held that the earlier judgment was void in the absence of congressional authorization for a suit, 309 U. S., at 512-513. There were no individual parties to the proceeding.

United States v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., supra; the Washington Supreme Court, see, e. g., State ex rel. Adams v. Superior Court, 57 Wash. 2d 181, 182-185, 356 P. 2d 985, 987-988 (1960); and the commentators, see, e. g., U. S. Dept. of Interior, Federal Indian Law 491–494 (1958), all concur. Respondent does not argue that either the Tribe or Congress has waived its claim of immunity or consented to the entry of an order against it. And certainly, the mere fact that the Tribe has appeared on behalf of its individual members does not effect a waiver of sovereign immunity for the Tribe itself.

On the other hand, the successful assertion of tribal sovereign immunity in this case does not impair the authority of the state court to adjudicate the rights of the individual defendants over whom it properly obtained personal jurisdiction. That court had jurisdiction to decide questions relating to the allocation between the hatchery fish and the natural run, the size of the catch the tribal members may take in their nets, their right to participate in hook-and-line fishing without paying state license fees and without having fish so caught diminish the size of their allowable net catch, and like questions. Only the portions of the state-court order that involve relief against the Tribe itself must be vacated in order to honor the Tribe's valid claim of immunity.

II

The Tribe vigorously argues that the majority of its members' netting of steelhead takes place inside its reservation,11

11 The continued existence of the Puyallup Reservation has been a matter of dispute on which we express no opinion. The Ninth Circuit, relying on our decision in Mattz v. Arnett, 412 U. S. 481, held that the reservation did still exist, United States v. Washington, 496 F. 2d 620 (1974), cert. denied, 419 U. S. 1032. That decision predates our consideration of DeCoteau v. District County Court, 420 U. S. 425, and Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip, 430 U. S. 584.

Opinion of the Court

433 U.S. and that, while our prior adjudications settled respondent's right to regulate off-reservation fishing in the interest of conservation, neither respondent nor the state court has jurisdiction over on-reservation fishing. The Tribe relies on both the Treaty of Medicine Creek, 10 Stat. 1132, and federal pre-emption of on-reservation Indian affairs, see Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones, 411 U. S. 145, 147–148.

Article II of the Treaty of Medicine Creek provided that the Puyallup Reservation was to be "set apart, and, so far as necessary, surveyed and marked out for their exclusive use" and that no "white man [was to] be permitted to reside upon the same without permission of the tribe and the superintendent or agent." It is argued that these words amount to a reservation of a right to fish free of state interference. Such an interpretation clashes with the subsequent history of the reservation and the facts of this case. Pursuant to two Acts of Congress, 27 Stat. 633, and c. 1816, 33 Stat. 565, the Puyallups alienated, in fee simple absolute, all but 22 acres of their 18,000 acre reservation. None of the 22 acres abuts on the Puyallup River.12 Neither the Tribe nor its members continue to hold Puyallup River fishing grounds for their "exclusive use." On the contrary, it is undisputed that non-Indian licensees of respondent fish in great numbers within the reservation, and under the close supervision of respondent's wardens.13

12 70 Wash. 2d, at 253, 422 P. 2d, at 759 (Puyallup I). Counsel for petitioner intimated at oral argument that petitioner might contend in the future that it retained trust status title to the bed of the Puyallup River, Tr. of Oral Arg. 10. This contention is at odds with the otherwise uncontradicted findings below.

13 The tribal members' right to fish "at all usual and accustomed grounds and stations," secured by Art. III of the treaty, continues to protect their right to fish on ceded lands within the confines of the reservation.

Although it is conceded that the State of Washington exercises civil and criminal jurisdiction within the reservation for most purposes, petitioner contends that it may not do so with respect to fishing." Again with particular reference to the facts of this case, we also reject this contention.

Our construction of the Treaty of Medicine Creek in Puyallup I makes it perfectly clear that although the State may not deny the Indians their right to fish "at all usual and accustomed" places, the treaty right is to be exercised "in common with all citizens of the Territory." We squarely held that "the right to fish at those respective places is not an exclusive one." 391 U. S., at 398. Rather, the exercise of that right was subject to reasonable regulation by the State pursuant to its power to conserve an important natural

resource.

In Puyallup II we directed the Washington State courts to devise a formula pursuant to which the steelhead catch could be "fairly apportioned" between Indian net fishing and nonIndian sport fishing. No such fair apportionment could be effective if the Indians retained the power to take an unlimited number of anadromous fish within the reservation. Speaking for the Court, Mr. Justice Douglas plainly stated that the power of the State is adequate to assure the survival of the steelhead:

"We do not imply that these fishing rights persist down to the very last steelhead in the river. Rights can be controlled by the need to conserve a species; and the time may come when the life of a steelhead is so precarious in a particular stream that all fishing should be banned until

14 Washington has acquired "Pub. L. 280" jurisdiction over the Puyallup Reservation, much of which coexists with the city of Tacoma. Pub. L. No. 280, §7, 67 Stat. 590; Wash. Rev. Code §§ 37.12.010-37.12.070 (1974). A provision of Pub. L. 280 exempts treaty fishing rights from state jurisdiction, however, 18 U. S. C. § 1162 (b).