In the Pacific Northwest, Salmon Declines Upend a Way of Life
Every spring and fall, Chinook salmon make their way from the Pacific Ocean into the Klamath River, in northern California. Historically, their black-speckled bodies would swim upstream, around the Cascade and Klamath mountain range and intothe Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon before spawning in its major tributaries.
Since time immemorial, local tribes — the Klamath, Karuk, Hoopa Valley and Yurok — fished these waters. The Chinook formed a vital part of the tribes' culture, economy and food security.
Barry McCovey Jr., of the Yurok tribe, learned to fish along the...
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