A Long-Term Research Program to Restore Freshwater Mussels as a Tribal First Food

Native freshwater mussels are a valuable component of aquatic ecosystems and are culturally important to Native Americans like the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and other Columbia River Basin tribes. Mussel populations are in decline globally and locally, and the extirpation of mussels from many rivers and streams has been documented. Reasons for these declines vary but include habitat degradation and the decline of native fish populations. Many of the benefits mussels provide through their interaction with the aquatic community, called ecosystem services, are density dependent. As populations decline, their services like water filtration, bioaccumulation, bioturbation, and trophic level connections also decline. Though mussel harvest is currently minimal among tribes due to low abundance and inaccessibility, the collection of mussels remains a reserved right under the Treaty of 1855. Freshwater mussels are a First Food, a traditional resource of cultural and ecological significance, but widespread harvest of mussels has not occurred for many decades, further reducing the human-mussel connection. To restore ecological and cultural connection to mussels, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation established a long-term research and restoration program in 2002 focused on: (A) understanding current and future risks through research, (B) conserving, protecting, and monitoring of existing mussel populations, and (C) restoration of impaired or extirpated populations and mussel habitat, and development of adaptive management actions. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation has remained at the forefront of freshwater mussel research for over 20 years. Initially, the project investigated mussel status and distribution in the Umatilla Basin in Eastern Oregon. Currently the program is regionally influential and covers five major Columbia River subbasins. Over the years the program has grown to include six research components (status and distribution monitoring, genetic and taxonomic investigations, reproductive biology, habitat associations, artificial propagation, and critical uncertainties), outreach and education, and a strategic Master Supplementation and Restoration Plan. We present results toward the overall project goal of restoring self-sustaining populations of freshwater mussels to CTUIR ceded area subbasins and the wider Columbia River Basin for the restoration of cultural and ecological services.