Description:
Based on oral interviews with tribal informants, current and former state and
federal fisheries personnel, review of records and literature, and presence/absence
sampling, it is apparent that Pacific lamprey were once abundant in ceded area streams of
the Umatilla Indian Reservation (John Day, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Tucannon, and Grande
Ronde subbasins). Current population levels appear severely depressed in all subbasins
except possibly the John Day, which could be classified as depressed. The most probable
reasons for population declines include: dams, chemical treatment activities, declining
habitat quality (e.g. high water temperatures, poor water quality, low instream flows), and
angle-iron in fishways to prevent lamprey passage.