This is the 59th year the Yurok Tribe has celebrated the Annual Klamath Salmon Festival to honor the iconic fish, which they have historically relied on for food.
But this year’s forecast for Klamath River fall-run Chinook is one of the lowest on record. That led the tribe to make the decision this week not to serve fish at the festival in order to help preserve the population.
“This decision reflects our sacred responsibility to take care of the Klamath River’s fish stocks. In addition to not catching fish for the festival, we are not going to harvest any salmon this year to protect the overall fish population,” Joseph L. James, the chairman of the Yurok Tribe, said in a press release. “The festival is still happening and we are doing everything possible to make it the most memorable event yet. I encourage everyone to come out to support local vendors and have a good time with family and friends.”
The Klamath’s salmon population has been declining for years for a variety of reasons, including dams blocking spawning habitat and water quality issues. A large-scale project is underway on the Trinity River, one of the Klamath’s tributaries, to provide habitat restoration.
The tribe cancelled the 2023 subsistence and commercial fisheries as a conservation measure last week. It has closed the commercial fishery every year since 2015, except for one, to preserve fish runs.
Four of the six dams on the Klamath are also in the process of being removed over the next year and a half. It’s a huge victory for the Yurok and other local tribes as they work to restore the health of the river and honor the salmon. When completed, it will reopen access to 400 miles of fish habitat that has been closed off for more than a century.
In accordance with the dam removals, this year’s festival theme is “Celebrating Dam Removal and the Healing of the Klamath River.”
The festival typically draws about 3,500 attendees.
The family-friendly Salmon Festival is happening on Saturday, August 19, in Klamath, California. Festivities will include basket-weaving and other cultural demonstrations, a parade, kids’ activities, food, local vendors, live music and a petting zoo.
