A new Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) and ProPublica podcast, “Salmon Wars,” tells the story of Columbia River salmon through the voices of a Yakama Nation family. Now available on all podcast platforms, the six-episode series tells the story of the salmon of the Columbia River in a way not heard before: through the experiences of a tribal family that relies on the fish as essential to their way of life.
Randy Settler and his family are all members of the Yakama Nation and fishers who have lived on the river their entire lives. They have been deeply affected by the Northwest’s salmon policies for generations. Over the last century and a half, many forces have eroded their and other Native peoples’ access to salmon. Treaties removed them from their traditional fishing areas. Dams massively reduced the number of salmon that swam in the waters. Environmental contamination further poisoned the well. Now, climate change threatens the salmon’s survival.
“Salmon Wars” dives into who’s to blame for the salmon vanishing, what can be done about it before it’s too late and why the disappearance of salmon impacts us all. The series is reported by OPB Investigations Editor Tony Schick and ProPublica Video Journalist Katie Campbell and produced by Schick and OPB Podcast Producer Julie Sabatier.
“‘Salmon Wars’ is collaborative journalism at its finest,” said Sarah Blustain, Assistant Managing Editor at ProPublica. “For more than a year, Tony Schick teamed up with ProPublica reporters through our Local Reporting Network to produce a stunning investigative series into how tribal access to salmon has been destroyed for generations. This podcast gives audiences the chance to hear the powerful and poignant voices from those generations for themselves.”