Instream Flow Requirements For Tribal Trust Species in the Klamath River

The Yurok People have long depended on the fish resources of the Klamath River. For centuries, the Klamath River provided fish throughout the year to meet the needs of the Yurok Tribe as well as the Karuk, Hoopa and Klamath Tribes. The river is still central to the everyday lives of the Yurok People. Historically, adult salmon and steelhead returning each year to spawn, including spring and fall chinook salmon, coho salmon and steelhead, probably numbered more than one million fish. At this time large numbers of eulachon, lamprey and green sturgeon also inhabited the river. These fish were harvested for cultural, subsistence and commercial purposes. They are referred to in the report as the Yurok Tribal Species.