A History of Salmon and People in the Central Valley Region of California

Abstract

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) formerly occurred in great abundance within the California Central Valley drainage and were a correspondingly important part of the subsistence economics and cultures of the indigenous peoples of that region. Salmon and other fishery resources on the Central Valley floor were part of a resource base that enabled resident Native American groups to attain some of the highest population densities to occur among the non-agricultural native societies of North America. Indirect estimates of aboriginal harvest~prior to Euro-American settlement of the region indicate that the native fishers may have exploited the Central Valley salmon resource on a level comparable to that later attained by the immigrant Euro-American fishers of the late ninteenth century commercial fishery. The salmon resource also figured, to varying degrees, in native group interactions-from trade item to causa belli. Among the last intact native groups in California reliant on a salmon-based subsistence economy were the McCloud River Wintua people who were instrumental in the successful operation of the U.S. Fish Commission eggcollecting station on the lower McCloud River that supplied salmon eggs for shipments to U.S. Eastern states and overseas countries.Prior to 1850, mention of salmon was made perodically by Spanish chroniclers and by European and (U.S.) American observers who traveled through the region. Sustained harvests of salmon by Euro-Americans did not begin until the California Gold Rush period, starting in 1848. The commercial salmon fishery of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and Delta region was one of the earliest major industries of California during the period of (U.S.) American settlement. The fishery frequently attained harvest levels of 4 to 10 million pounds (1.8 to 4.5 million kg) per year during the highly productive early decades of operation (1870s to 1900s), and it contributed substantially to the regional economy. Despite the general decline of Pacific salmon resources in California and the Pacific Northwest region since the early period of commercial exploitation, chinook salmon have continued to contribute significantly to the state and local economies in recent decades. Aside from its importance as a food commodity, other aspects of the value of the salmon resource (viZ., biological, recreational, and aesthetic benefits) are being increasingly recognized. The chinook salmon resource of the California Central Valley -having provided material and amenity benefits to both native and immigrant peoples for so long in the past -may yet continue to fulfill the needs of humans in the' future if we of the present make it so.

California’s Golden Road to Riches: Natural Resources and Regional Capitalism, 1848 – 1940

“…18 Under the shadow of mining, considerable plunder of forests and streams took place (Brechin 1999). Simultaneously, river fishes and ocean mammals were stripped from the waters (Busch 1985;Black 1995;Yoshiyama 1999). Beginning with the great wheat boom, the economy shifted toward agriculture, and California led the nation in value of output from farming and agro-processing from 1900 to 1950 (Paul 1958;Liebman 1983;Olmstead and Rhode 1997).…”

Scenarios for Restoring Floodplain Ecology Given Changes to River Flows Under Climate Change: Case from the San Joaquin River, California

“…Splittail requirements help define functional floodplains because their recovery depends on improving and adding floodplain habitat. Similar to the splittail, Chinook salmon were once abundant in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Basin, and of the four races of the species, only the fall run remains comparatively abundant (Yoshiyama, ). Research supports the positive relationship of Chinook salmon growth, survival, feeding success and prey availability to frequent floodplain inundation periods (Sommer et al ., ).…”

A Landscape-Level Model for Ecosystem Restoration in the San Francisco Estuary and Its Watershed

“…Interactions among channel morphology, sediment composition, freshwater flow, and water temperature controlled the availability of habitat for salmon. The distribution and abundance of salmon were presumably determined largely by variation in habitat availability, as evidenced by the precipitous decline in salmon runs after access to habitat was cut off by dams (Yoshiyama 1999). Variable oceanic conditions can affect survival of salmon to adulthood and presumably caused variability in run size of salmon populations (Francis and Hare 1994).…”