Once abundant along the coast 和 in California’s rivers, 自古以来，鲑鱼在该州土著人民的日常生活和传统中起着至关重要的作用. 今天, Native California tribes are striving to bolster that salmon population, as both a labor of love 和 a mission of sustainability.
California’s Salmon People: An Endangered Way of Life
California is the southernmost extent of the salmon’s range in the Western Hemisphere. Four species—Chinook (also known as king), 银大马哈鱼, 和, to a lesser extent pink 和 chum salmon—historically thrived in California waters, 为沿海部落和部分地区的部落提供了可靠的高营养食物来源 中央山谷. 这些鱼是土著人生活中不可或缺的一部分，在2017年给环境保护局的一封信中, Karuk部落 chairman Russell “Buster” Attebery declared, “卡鲁克和其他克拉马斯盆地部落都是鲑鱼族，bbin游戏官网的文化认同与鲑鱼的生命周期交织在一起.”
That relationship is increasingly threatened by California’s declining salmon runs. As Attebery pointed out, with more than 1.200万条鱼 克拉马斯河 once produced the third-largest population of salmon on the West Coast. 但在2017年，这条河看似取之不尽的鲑鱼种群锐减至只有1.1万条. 虽然加州部落可以继续捕捞鲑鱼，但两河的鲑鱼数量都创历史新低 萨克拉门托 和克拉马斯河导致2023年海洋和河内休闲捕鱼关闭.
To protect their traditions 和 preserve an essential food source, 加州部落在恢复该州鲑鱼洄游的努力中发挥了重要作用. 让bbin游戏官网来看看该州土著居民与鲑鱼之间的古老联系, as well as recovery programs led by California tribes.
为鲑鱼挺身而出
几千年来，加州的部落与鲑鱼保持着深厚的精神和文化联系，这一点怎么强调都不为过. In an interview for an exhibit at the 加州科学院 in 旧金山, Yurok部落乔治亚娜·根索说, “当人类被创造出来的时候, it was salmon who stepped up to feed us in the beginning of time. We’ve been taught since they stepped up for us first, that it’s our inherent responsibility to stick up for them.”
在他们祖先的家园里 Mt. 沙士达山 通过 McCloud 北部的河流流域 整理, Winnemem Wintu部落 has protected 和 nurtured populations of Chinook salmon (known to the tribe as 努尔)代代相传. At waterfalls 和 other impassable barriers, 部落里的人会采集鲑鱼,n transport the 鱼 in baskets before releasing them upstream. Tribal members even lit bonfires along stream banks to help guide salmon upriver.
在一篇文章中 人与自然中心Winnemem Wintu的首领和精神领袖Caleen Sisk说:“鲑鱼对bbin游戏官网来说是一种神奇的鱼. They’re a spirit being that is always giving. 在生命的每一个阶段，给予. 作为卵，它们是鱼饵. As fry [recently hatched or juveniles],y’re 鱼 food. They only do things in a sacred manner.”
曾几何时， Siskiyou县–based Karuk部落 netted salmon at 120 sites along the Klamath 和 Salmon rivers. 现在他们只在 石皮石瀑布 near the confluence of the rivers at the sacred ceremonial location of Katamin, an area the Karuk consider the center of the world. 部落成员仍然使用传统的12英尺长的浸网来捕捞40磅重的奇努克鲑鱼(俗称奇努克鲑鱼) Aama 卡鲁克语).
“石皮石不仅仅是一个渔场, it’s a place where elders teach the youth how to feed their families, 如何努力工作, 和 to be thankful for the gifts the creator has bestowed upon us,利夫·希尔曼说, 卡鲁克部落的礼仪领袖和自然资源与环境政策主管.
One measure of the salmon’s decline is that before Europeans arrived in California, Karuk ate a daily average of more than a pound of salmon per person. Now they consume less than five pounds of salmon per year.
加州的鲑鱼怎么了?
According to a 2017 study prepared by 加州鳟鱼 和UC 戴维斯 流域科学中心, California was historically home to 32 salmonid species (which include salmon, 虹鳟, 和鳟鱼), 其中22种是该州特有的. The bull trout went extinct in California waters in 1975, 和 the study concluded that under current conditions, 23 more salmonid species could disappear within the next century.
The 鱼 once ranged through an estimated 45,加州的水道长达1000英里, from the current Mexican border to Oregon. But a number of environmental factors have reduced that habitat by two-thirds.
The California Gold Rush was a major event in the decline of California’s salmon. 在淘金热之前，每年有多达200万条鲑鱼游过中央山谷的河流. 长期以来，加州的土著居民通过避免过度捕捞和确保有足够的鱼流向上游产卵，维持了鲑鱼的可持续繁殖. 但大量矿工和定居者的涌入导致了过度捕捞，破坏了自然平衡, 而采矿活动破坏了鲑鱼赖以产卵的河床和沙砾坝.
Careless logging increased erosion that degraded water quality, turning clear blue streams into cloudy, silt-filled waters ill-suited for salmon. 在20世纪, dam construction on many California rivers prevented salmon from reaching an upstream spawning habitat; it’s estimated that the 鱼 lost access to 95 percent of their ancestral, 高海拔产卵地.
Climate change has also taken a major toll on salmon populations. 多年来，持续的干旱降低了河流的水位，较浅的水和较高的温度使许多水道对鲑鱼物种来说太热了，导致有毒藻类大量繁殖. 野火的增加也对鲑鱼种群产生了不利影响，因为山体滑坡经常破坏产卵栖息地并使卵窒息.
部落的行动
从 太浩湖，其中 内华达州和加利福尼亚州的瓦肖部落 was part of the cooperative effort to reintroduce 100,000条本地拉洪坦割喉鳟鱼, 到沿 北海岸, 加州部落正在采取行动恢复鲑鱼和钢头鱼的数量，以保护他们传统的生活方式.
Yurok, Karuk，还有 Hoopa谷 部落在20年的努力中发挥了关键作用，按计划到2024年底拆除克拉马斯河上的四座水坝. 大坝拆除工程被认为是美国乃至世界上规模最大的拆除工程. 通过拆除大坝, salmon 和 虹鳟 will regain access to more than 400 miles of spawning areas, beginning a healing process for the river, 鱼, 和 the tribes whose lifeways have been disrupted for more than a century. In 2023, 例如, 为了帮助鲑鱼恢复，Yurok部落被迫禁止商业捕鱼和传统的自给捕鱼. 在8月的年度 克拉马斯鲑鱼节在美国，实际上并没有三文鱼.
苏珊·马斯顿, past chairperson 和 vice chairperson of the Yurok部落, 说, “The 克拉马斯河 is our heartline 和 we use the 鱼 in our ceremonies. 所以它对bbin游戏官网精神上很重要……河流的健康决定着人民的健康. And our river has been very sick, not due to anything we’ve done. Because we’ve been excellent stewards of the 克拉马斯河 since time immemorial.”
Winnemem Wintu部落正在与联邦和州机构合作，将冬季洄游的奇努克鲑鱼放回北部的产卵区 整理 for the first time since the construction of 沙士达山 Dam in the 1940s. In 2022, 伴随着祈祷的声音, 歌曲, 和打鼓, 35,000个鲑鱼卵被带到麦克劳德河沿岸的孵卵箱中，以便在大坝上方的这一分水岭重建鱼群. After the 鱼 hatched, more than 1,500 fry were trapped 和 transported below the dam. 长期的希望是创造一条鱼道，让鲑鱼绕过水坝.
Oddly enough, recovery effort might eventually involve salmon from New Zeal和. 从19世纪末开始, McCloud上孵化场的三文鱼卵和鱼苗被送往新西兰和其他13个国家. The 鱼 have thrived on the Rakaia River 和, in 2010, Winnemem代表前往新西兰南岛看望这些奇努克人，并与Ngi Tahu毛利部落的成员举行仪式.
Winnemem Wintu人希望最终将奇努克人从拉凯亚重新引入麦克劳德. 这个部落与这些鱼有一种精神上的联系，他们认为新西兰奇努克鲑鱼是真正的麦克劳德鲑鱼——与原始种群的基因最接近.
部落首领西克说，恢复鲑鱼洄游对部落的身份认同至关重要. “bbin游戏官网仍然是鲑鱼文化, even though they’ve taken our salmon 和 our l和 away by building 沙士达山 Dam. We believe that whatever happens to the salmon happens to us. The salmon lost their home on the McCloud River 和 so did we. When the salmon come home to the McCloud River,n maybe we can come home too.”