Klamath Falls Sucker Assisted Rearing Program 2016 Update

The goal of U.S Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Sucker Assist Rearing Program (SARP) is to rear 8,000-10,000 age-0 Lost River and shortnose suckers to >200 mm for reintroduction into the Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) system. USFWS employees, with help from Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and The Klamath Tribes (TKT), successfully collected an estimated 4,300 larvae from the Williamson River in 2016 and transported them to Gone Fishing. SARP had an estimated 70% survival rate from collection to ponding. Expansion in 2016 will double the current rearing capacity and allow SARP to rear the target number of suckers in low densities as well as investigate experimental salvage fish health treatment efficacy and more specific rearing questions. It will also allow us to hold fish in discrete cohorts throughout their captivity in an effort to differentiate spawning yields among the UKL sucker species.