First Round of Captive Reared Sucker Fish Released into Upper Klamath Lake
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US Fish and Wildlife Biologist releases reared sucker fish into Upper Klamath Lake. March 20, 2018 (Brian Gailey).
Klamath Falls, Ore. - Along the shore line of Upper Klamath Lake at the Eagle Ridge County Park a small number of reared Lost River and Shortnose Sucker fish have been released. These fish are the first of thousands to be raised in captivity and released into Upper Klamath Lake.
Alan Mikkelsen, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke was in attendance to help release the fish into the wild and answer questions about the program.
“This is the first cohort of what we expect to be many more releases in the coming years,” says Mikkelsen. “What is going on here is an attempt to stabilize and ultimately increase the population of suckers in the lake.”
Alan Mikkelsen releases sucker fish into Upper Klamath Lake. March 20, 2018 (Brian Gailey)
“We really would like to get to a point where the Klamath Tribes will have their traditional and cultural fishery restored and where irrigators will be able to irrigate,” continues Mikkelsen.
This first cohort includes 2,500 sucker fish collected in 2016
The Klamath Tribes have addressed concerns in regard to the captive rearing and release of the sucker fish, stating “Although, the Klamath Tribes appreciate this effort, we feel strongly that in order to be effective this needs to be accomplished on a much larger scale.”
In reply to the tribes statement Mikkelsen said, “We have to start somewhere, nobody believes that this is anywhere near the numbers we need. This very first release is basically to inform the scientists on how they will actually do. We will be in position to release double this much next year and we hope to double it again a year after that.”
Today’s journey began four years ago when the capture rearing program was first authorized to help the endangered population of Shortnose and Lost River sucker fish. The Bureau of Reclamation has authorized $300,000 per year for the program. Employing two fish biologists, one biological technician, and a contract aquaculture expert.
The fish released today were captured during the fish’s larval stage from the Williamson River in 2016. For the past 18-months the captured larval fish [hatched eggs, that are about 1 inch long] then raised at the Gone Fishing aquaculture facility near Klamath Falls.
For reasons not completely understood, juvenile fish are not surviving beyond the first year of life in the wild. With this pattern the US Fish and Wildlife Service expects the Lost River sucker to go extinct in 30-50 years, and the Shortnose in as little as 15-years based on current trends and mortality data. The rearing and subsequent release of the sucker fish aims to reverse that trend.
Dr. Evan Childress, Biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service explains the rearing process for the Lost River and Shortnose Sucker fish. March 20, 2018 (Brian Gailey).
“We try to minimize the impact of this program on the natural populations. The Fish and Wildlife Service does not engage in this type of activity unless we feel like it’s the last-ditch effort, says Dr. Evan Childress, Fish Biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. “This population is not replenishing its self and so we feel like this is required, but we are trying to do as much as possible to minimize the impact. That includes larvae that were naturally spawned. Then we raise them in ponds that are kind of murky like the water is here in Upper Klamath Lake. They feed on natural productions within those pond. They get to behave like they would in nature.”
The assisted rearing approach differs from a traditional hatchery program because larvae are collected from the wild rather than collecting and rearing the eggs by artificially breading adults in captivity. The traditional hatchery approach is more costly and can cause undesired results, such as reduced genetic diversity and high early life mortality.
In addition to the 2,500 to be released in the spring of 2018, approximately 7,000 larval fish were collected in 2017 and are currently being raised inside outdoor ponds at the Gone Fishing aquaculture facility, for release in spring 2019.
