The film documentary, The Lost Fish: The Struggle to Save Pacific Lamprey, will be shown at Tamástslikt Cultural Institute at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 28.
Following the movie, Aaron Jackson, project leader for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Lamprey Program, will provide a question and answer period. Live lamprey will be on display as well.
Pacific lamprey are the oldest known fish in the Columbia River System. Fossils indicate they were here 450 million years ago.
The toothy, eel-like fish are an important part of tribal diets and a good indicator of ecosystem health. But salmon and steelhead recoveries have overshadowed the decline of the lamprey, which some non-tribal fishers considered a “trash fish.”
To help raise awareness about the lamprey, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Freshwaters Illustrated have released “The Lost Fish” about efforts to recover the Pacific lamprey before the fish are put on the Endangered Species List.
The documentary travels to all the Columbia River tribes highlighting different lamprey projects, from harvesting lamprey at Willamette Falls to trucking the fish around dams. Complimentary refreshments will be served.
For more information, go to the Tamástslikt website.
