June sucker population gets boost

The recovery of the endangered June sucker got a boost last month when more than 3,500 fish, roughly four inches in length, were placed into two ponds at the Division of Wildlife Resource's Springville State Fish Hatchery.

The planting doubles the number of hatcheries in Utah where the fish are being raised. Prior to this, the fish were raised only at the DWR's Fisheries Experiment Station in Logan.

The Springville hatchery traditionally has been a game fish hatchery, raising more than one million trout each year. The hatchery was closed in April 2005, however, after whirling disease was discovered in the hatchery.

Whirling disease affects trout, but it does not affect June suckers. The hatchery is scheduled to raise trout after remodeling. The remodeling will include the building of covered raceways to try and prevent re-entry of the disease.

Reports are the June suckers are doing well.

Deer hunters from the DWR's Dedicated Hunter program cleaned and prepared the two ponds.

"Raising June sucker at the Springville fish hatchery is a win-win situation for several reasons," said Scott Root, regional conservation outreach manager with the DWR. "Our Fisheries Experiment Station in Logan had little room in their June sucker facility to raise these fish, so bringing the fish to the Springville hatchery creates another facility to raise an endangered fish, which is a very important part of the recovery of this species."

"We divided the fish equally into the two ponds," said Richard Hartman, hatchery supervisor. "The fish in the north pond will be fed, while the fish in the south pond will not be fed as part of a study to evaluate the ability of the fish to live off the available algae and plankton found within the pond.

"We also fertilized both ponds prior to stocking the fish to promote a good food base of algae and plankton for them to eat."

Biologists plan to place pit tags into each fish and will monitor the fish after they're stocked into Utah Lake. Utah Lake is the only place in the world where June suckers are found in the wild.