An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

Columbia River

Idaho Tribal Fish Consumption Survey

Map of tribal reservations in Idaho.

About this Survey

The Idaho Tribal Fish Consumption Survey documents current and heritage (i.e. historic) fish consumption rates for tribes in Idaho.

It was conducted by EPA in collaboration with the following tribal governments:

  • Nez Perce Tribe.
  • Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.
  • Coeur D'Alene Tribe of Indians.
  • Kootenai Tribe of Idaho.
  • Shoshone-Paiute Tribes.

What We Learned

  • Fish consumption rates for the participating Idaho tribes indicate that they currently consume more fish than the general population.
  • Idaho Tribes generally consume more fish than previously documented 20 years ago in the Fish Consumption Survey of the Umatilla, Nez Perce, Yakama, and Warm Springs Tribes of the Columbia River BasinExit conducted by the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC).
  • Tribal members attribute increased fish consumption, in part, due to habitat improvements and an increased availability of fish in local rivers and lakes. Differences in the design of EPA’s survey relative to the original CRITFC survey may also contribute to differences in derived fish consumption rates.

Why It's Important

  • This data will help support development of tribal water quality standards, and inform federal and state decisions that may affect tribal fish consumption in Idaho.
  • A review of heritage (i.e. historic) fish consumption for Idaho Tribes complied past and historic fish consumption rates. The heritage fish consumption information assists in quantifying suppression of current tribal fish consumption relative to historic levels.

Survey Documents

You may need a PDF reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA’s About PDF page to learn more.