Excellent article, thanks. I live close to Willamette Falls, and had no idea that this was the last place for Native Americans to harvest lamprey eels, or even that anyone enjoyed eating them!

Here is an idea:

Stop eating them for a few seasons and they might come back.

Better yet find a food that is sustainable and make it sacred.

Stop blaming the evil white man and those dirty polluting dams for all your troubles.

When they are gone they are gone no matter the cause so find that replacement now before it is to late.

That same theory holds true for the tribes in the northern America that hunt endangered whales.

Find another source of sacred food and stop killing whales.

It is ok for indians to do it and not change with the times but boy if a white person does it it is world national news.

So you really think that a few Indians fishing for lamprey eels by hand once a year is the reason for their decline? I find your comments about Indians and their culture to be offensive, and your hypothesis that they are the cause of the decreasing numbers of eels to be,,,,,actually I don't even need to say anything as it speaks for itself.