California tribes fear abysmal salmon run may trigger public health crisis
Sacramento BeeApr 16, 2017
In the
The run this year is so miniscule that for the first time there will be practically no tribal fishing on the rivers.
To protect what's left of a
The Yurok,
The loss of the region's largest fishing season has triggered an existential crisis for the tribes.
"When that's gone, it's literally like the social fabric that holds our entire community together unravels," said
Commercial fishing plays an important role in regional and tribal economies. Salmon also provide a critical food source on tribal lands. Between a third and a half of the people on North Coast Indian reservations have incomes below the federal poverty level, according to
Instead of tribe members receiving dozens of fish each to feed them throughout the year, this year tribal leaders are talking in single servings.
Hunger is a very real concern, said
"It's a staple for a lot of folks' diet," Jackson said. "We have high unemployment and poverty and all of those things. Salmon and subsistence food for a lot of folks is all that they have in a lot of ways."
There are also less tangible worries.
Tribal leaders fear what will happen to their communities without the excitement, the sense of purpose and the community interactions that come with readying gear, moving into fishing camps and smoking and canning fish.
In an example of how much fishing is tied to life on the
Jackson, who fishes with members of his family, said the annual fall run provides a vital connection to traditions that stretch back long before
"It's who we are. It's how we connect to the land," Jackson said. "It's how we connect to a lot of the cultural aspects of the tribe."
Experts on tribal mental health said those connections help tribe members cope with the unresolved trauma from the various atrocities that have been committed on indigenous peoples. Europeans brought fatal diseases, massacres and forced relocations. It wasn't all that long ago that native children were taken from their families and forced to attend government boarding schools in a concerted effort to wipe away indigenous traditions, culture and language.
Experts said losing something as important as the salmon season could reopen some of those wounds.
"If there is a lack of salmon for tribes that have relied on it for millennia and whose culture is based around it, then we might very well anticipate some of these very negative mental health outcomes and behavioral health issues," said
If there is a bright spot to the worst salmon season on record, tribal leaders say the situation has only strengthened their resolve to have four hydroelectric dams torn down on the
The Yurok and Hoopa Valley tribes recently prevailed in lawsuits arguing federal officials needed to release more water into the the rivers at certain times of year to ward off disease outbreaks.
Tribal biologists say that during the drought, a disease outbreak fueled by low water levels sickened almost all of the juvenile fish in the river. The disease played a substantial role in why there so few adult fish this year, said
On the
The move came a few months after
"These fish are resilient animals," he said. "If we just allowed them the chance, they will do the hard work that
In the shorter term, a wet winter has brought its own sense of optimism, said
"It's definitely brought hope that we'll have a healthy salmon run," she said. "It almost feels like some of our prayers are manifesting with the rain."
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