game tournaments, and plenty, plenty of food. but it feels like having a party but your favorite person isn t there. reporter: this year they are not serving salmon at the salmon festival. the word for salmon, the literal translation is what we eat. that pretty much says it all. that gets to the haeart of i. reporter: on the river, there just aren t enough salmon. the tribe says the fish suffered since the gold river, rising water temperatures and huge hydropowered dams. there is only half the salmon returning that we need to sustain the current population. salmon fishing was shut down completely this fall. reporter: that s why there is no salmon to eat. but the mood at the festival is, well, festive, celebratory. why? because they are doing something about that lack of salmon. they campaigned hard to have
all right, salmon are a main stay at the salmon festival in clamoth, california, but this week their off the hook. nick watt has por. reporter: welcome to the 59th annual salmon fest. there is a parade and craft and stick game tournament and plenty, plenty of food. but it feels like having a party but your favorite person isn t there. reporter: because this year they are serving salmon at the salmon festival. the word napui, our word for salmon, the literal translation is what we eat. that pretty much says it all. but out on the river there just aren t enough salmon. the tribe said the fish has suffered since the gold rush, ruined by mining and rising water temperatures and huge
annual salmon festival. there s a parade, craft stalls, a stick game tournament, and plenty, plenty of food. but it feels like having a party but your favorite person isn t there. reporter: because this year they are not serving salmon at the salmon festival. the word our word for salmon, the literal translation is, what we eat. that pretty much says it all. that gets to the heart of it. reporter: but out on the river, there just aren t enough salmon. the tribe says the fish have suffered since the gold rush. the river near ruined by mining, rising water temperatures, and huge hydropower dams. there s only about half the salmon returning we need to sustain the population. reporter: that s why there s no salmon to eat. but the mood at the festival is, well, festive, celebratory. why? because the ewe rock and others