C’waam and koptu: The fish at the center of the Klamath basin’s water crisis
At almost 30 miles long, Upper Klamath Lake is the home to several types of fish that live only here. Two of them are called C’waam and Koptu in the Klamath Tribes’ traditional language or, in English, the Lost River and shortnose sucker. They have a stubby face and wide lips, and can live to be 50-years-old. … In recent years, the juvenile fish have been dying, causing the overall population to crash. Five years ago, when Gonyaw started working for the tribes, there were about 20,000 shortnose suckers in the lake. Estimates today put them at just 3,400. The Lost River sucker is disappearing at a similar rate.
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