Portland, Oregon
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With a watchful eye toward conserving and restoring declining Pacific
lamprey populations, Columbia Basin treaty tribes met recently with
federal and state agencies to discuss a better future for the ancient
animal.
“This is our sacred food,” said Warm Springs member
Bernice Mitchell in offering a tribal perspective to kick off the
one-day Columbia River Basin Pacific Lamprey Summit on Oct. 22 at
Portland State University’s Native American Student and Community
Center. “We will never let it go.”
Pacific lamprey, once teeming in the hundreds of thousands, have
seen its numbers plunge in face of obstacles such as dams, pollution
and habitat loss. The eel-like animal has suffered additional decline
from serving as the bait of choice for anglers seeking to reel in
other catch including white sturgeon and smallmouth bass.
Eleven conservation groups earlier this year petitioned the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to protect the Pacific, western
brook, river and Kern River lamprey as well as key habitat under
the federal Endangered Species Act. The summit, organized by the
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC), sought preventive
strategies to fund lamprey recovery and avoid having to list the
animal as endangered or threatened.
More than 100 summit participants joined a panel of tribal, federal
and state executives for presentations on the lamprey’s life
cycle, recovery-funding needs and cultural and ecological significance
to the Columbia Basin. The panel, representing Columbia Basin treaty
tribes; USFWS; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation;
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and three state
fish-and-wildlife agencies, looked to potential next steps in returning
the Pacific lamprey to more robust numbers:
- Assess obstacles to lamprey survival and reproduction.
- Improve dam operations to increase lamprey passage.
- Stock additional lamprey in its natural habitat.
- Develop a common vision for lamprey recovery.
- Compile current lamprey research and create a unified restoration
plan to gain Congressional support.
Officials also expect to schedule a technical forum on adding lamprey
to current fish-and-wildlife-monitoring activities along the Columbia
River Basin.
“What we know is that this fish is in decline,” said
CRITFC Executive Director Olney Patt Jr. “We have an opportunity
now to work as collaborators rather than adversaries.” Added
Patt, “An Endangered Species Act listing sets a very low bar
– not one that we would be satisfied with. We’re focused
on recovery.”
For more information on the summit, including a summary and downloadable
presentations from the event, visit www.critfc.org/lamprey.
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About CRITFC
The Portland-based Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is
the technical support and coordinating agency for fishery management
policies of the Columbia River Basin's four treaty tribes: the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes
and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Nez Perce Tribe.
CRITFC, formed in 1977, employs biologists, other scientists, public
information specialists, policy analysts and administrators who work
in fisheries research and analyses, advocacy, planning and coordination,
harvest control and law enforcement. |
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