They don't have bone, they have a cartilage.

So this has to be pulled on the way out.

Kind of really elastic cord.

You got to get the whole thing out.

You know, it gives it a bitter.

So what, you go left just skin on me.

There's nothing else.

Yeah, so now it's ready.

We'll put it on the fire.

Give him the choice of salmon or lamb Pre.

Many native elders go for lamb Bree every time.

So I'm hoping this primordial predators flesh tastes a whole lot better than it looks.

Have a taste.

I'll tell you.

It reminds me of a little bit.

It reminds me a little bit of mackerel because that's Mack was very oily.

And you've got that crispy skin Whereabouts to these actually come from.

These come from Willamette Falls, and actually my family came from that area from essentially time of memorial.

We say, you know, our people have been there and fish there.

Willamette Falls probably has one of the larger runs in this area.

Now they can come from the ocean to the falls without any obstacles, so they're still good run there, but they are diminishing.

So the tribes are working to try to get the runs improved again.

In the past, gathering this gift from nature was easy.

Migrating lampreys literally covered the rocks at the falls, but now they're in decline.

Harvesters must negotiate the heart of the thundering falls on range them from deep rock crevices and churning pools.

Entering the lair of this ancient bloodsucker is not only dangerous but frankly horrifying.

It's extremely rare for outsiders to join the hunt, but the Grand Ronde have made an exception.

I hope I can repay their generosity with a decent hole of lampreys.

Tribal council member Peter Wakeland on his Suntory take me up the turbulent waters of the Willamette River towards the falls.

Bruises are very common.

It's a lot of big boulders in there.

It's very slippery.

You can't see anything.

I think it's definitely a part of field.

You're gonna be pretty much blind, feeling a way down 150 miles from the ocean.

We're on the same migratory path.

Salmon, sturgeon on Landry.

Anything swimming up the Willamette River is eventually going to encounter this 40 foot high wall of rock carving around 1500 feet.

I'm awestruck by the challenge facing both fish on us.

In terms of the volume of water, these are the biggest force in the entire U.

S.

After Niagara, you can well understand how this is going to cause a pause in the fish migration.

This is why people have been coming to this place for millennia and it's into this water.

But I've got to go.

We're gonna make our way up above these bowlers way.

Wanna work our way across the face and check in all those cracks?

I'll be working blind, only AIDS.

I have a cotton gloves to improve my grip on these slimy servant like vampires.

Peter tries to shield me from the huge surge that's pulling our legs under water.

Any of us could get sucked under and drowned.

Sound is deafening, like barely hear Peter's instructions.

I'm desperate to get my hands on the lampreys, but I'm coming up empty.

There's a rock face where lampreys congregate right under the highest falls.

With risk so much greater.

I don't think we have a choice.

We're gonna get further into the bulls.

Slick bass salt is lethal.

If I slip, I could be forced under down by the thundering water.

I wouldn't be the first person to drown.

We're gonna go in, try to get a good foothold.

So you don't get flushed over the edge that were just start reaching down feeling you're not gonna be able to see.

And there's a lot of water coming over today around 20,000 cubic feet per second.

Way more is to get one behind their mouths.

But they're in a very deep crevasse every day.

This is a real first from a fish, that car, because on a bike, run mine the three fine, but one fish doesn't make a feast.

Justus.

I've mastered my technique.

I feel something hit me.

Dozens of lampreys of flying out of the falls.

The official weigh more water behind the torrents lampreys.

They're suckering their way up with 40 foot rock face to the river above.

This is my last chance to seize these arriving vampires.

I'm hoping to bag at least 30 pizza Finally says way have enough.

Even though I've now got one of my hands, Lamprey is still a very hard Kreacher to pin down to some people.

Is this hideous invader, But to others, it's a gift from nature.

With snake like body, it's vampire like feeding habits.

You can well understand why, for some people, this has become the stuff of nightmares, a primordial vampire that's bean on the earth longer than any other river monster life encounters.