Tribes gather in Sacramento, US, today for the eighth International Day of Action for Rivers and a rally to push the removal of the Klamath river dams and restore the river’s salmon fisheries.

Representatives of the Karuk, Yurok, Hoopa and Klamath tribes are set to protest at California’s capital in an attempt to urge Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators to approve the removal of the six-dam Klamath complex, which is undergoing a relicensing process by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

At one time the Klamath was the third most productive salmon river in the US, producing over 1M adult salmon per year. Today, the figure is about a tenth of that.

The demonstration will also be attended by hundreds of fishermen, human rights advocates and conservationists. Groups involved in the protest include Friends of the River, International Rivers Network and the Pacific Federation of Fishermen and Associates.