Utah officials release bluehead suckers into Weber River
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- Utah Division of Wildlife Resources worker Chris Penne releases some of the bluehead suckers bred in a hatchery into the Weber River in Morgan County on Wednesday, July 5, 2023. The aim is to bolster their numbers in the waterway. Accompanying him were fellow DWR workers Caleb Campbell, left, and Garrett Green.
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- One of the bluehead suckers to be released into the Weber River as part of a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources initiative, photographed Wednesday, July 5, 2023. The effort is meant to bolster the numbers of the fish in the waterway.
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- Some of the bluehead suckers meant to bolster the numbers of the fish in the Weber River, photographed Wednesday, July 5, 2023. The fish grew in a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources hatchery and the photo was taken at a release point along the river in Morgan County.
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- From left, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources workers Chante Lundskog, Garrett Green and Kayla Hancey prepare bluehead suckers bred in a hatchery for release into the Weber River. The photo was taken Wednesday, July 5, 2023, at a point along the river in Morgan County.
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- Some of the bluehead suckers meant to bolster the numbers of the fish in the Weber River, photographed Wednesday, July 5, 2023, in the vehicle that hauled them. The fish grew in a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources hatchery and the photo was taken at a release point along the river in Morgan County.
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- From left, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources workers Chris Penne, Chante Lundskog, Kayla Hancey, Garrett Green and Caleb Campbell on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, at the release of some of the bluehead suckers meant to bolster the numbers of the fish in the waterway. Fish are in the buckets. The photo was taken at a spot along the Weber River in Morgan County.
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- Some of the bluehead suckers meant to bolster the numbers of the fish in the Weber River, photographed Wednesday, July 5, 2023. The fish grew in a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources hatchery and the photo was taken at a release point along the river in Morgan County.
Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources worker Chris Penne releases some of the bluehead suckers bred in a hatchery into the Weber River in Morgan County on Wednesday, July 5, 2023. The aim is to bolster their numbers in the waterway. Accompanying him were fellow DWR workers Caleb Campbell, left, and Garrett Green.
The bluehead sucker isn’t traditionally a target of anglers. It doesn’t make it to the plates of fish-loving Utahns.
Even so, as its numbers dipped, state wildlife officials took note and launched efforts to bolster the critter’s presence in the state. On Wednesday, the initiative took a major step forward with release of around 1,000 of the fish at various spots along the Weber River, from Ogden to Echo Reservoir in Summit County.
“We’ve got our eye on it. We want to do everything we can to keep the numbers from declining. We want to increase the numbers,” said Mark Hadley, outreach manager for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, or DWR.
Notably, it was the first time Utah officials had bred the fish in hatcheries and restocked them in a Utah waterway. The bluehead sucker isn’t an endangered species, Hadley said, and DWR officials aim to keep it that way.
Chante Lundskog, a DWR native aquatic biologist, helped lead Wednesday’s effort. Speaking from one of the restocking points along the Weber River in Morgan County, just east of the Weber County line, she said the 1,000 fish will double the population of the bluehead suckers in the waterway.
Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner
One of the bluehead suckers to be released into the Weber River as part of a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources initiative, photographed Wednesday, July 5, 2023. The effort is meant to bolster the numbers of the fish in the waterway.
“They’re an important component of the system,” she said.
Anglers probably wouldn’t ever land the fish, and even if they did, they’d be required to toss them back in the water, according to Hadley. But as bottom dwellers, the fish feed off rocks along the bottom of rivers, playing an important role in helping bolster water quality. “It just makes it a little better for everything that’s in the system,” Lundskog said.
DWR biologists started gathering bluehead sucker eggs from the Weber River in 2017. They grew initially at a hatchery in Springville before being moved to a hatchery in Logan. They are now young adults, measuring perhaps seven to eight inches, and when full grown will reach 16 to 18 inches.
Looking forward, Lundskog said plans are in the works to install fish ladders at the dam along the Weber River in Morgan County where some of the fish were released. That will improve their mobility, aiding in their survival.
Some of the bluehead suckers meant to bolster the numbers of the fish in the Weber River, photographed Wednesday, July 5, 2023. The fish grew in a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources hatchery and the photo was taken at a release point along the river in Morgan County.
From left, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources workers Chante Lundskog, Garrett Green and Kayla Hancey prepare bluehead suckers bred in a hatchery for release into the Weber River. The photo was taken Wednesday, July 5, 2023, at a point along the river in Morgan County.
Some of the bluehead suckers meant to bolster the numbers of the fish in the Weber River, photographed Wednesday, July 5, 2023, in the vehicle that hauled them. The fish grew in a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources hatchery and the photo was taken at a release point along the river in Morgan County.
From left, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources workers Chris Penne, Chante Lundskog, Kayla Hancey, Garrett Green and Caleb Campbell on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, at the release of some of the bluehead suckers meant to bolster the numbers of the fish in the waterway. Fish are in the buckets. The photo was taken at a spot along the Weber River in Morgan County.
Some of the bluehead suckers meant to bolster the numbers of the fish in the Weber River, photographed Wednesday, July 5, 2023. The fish grew in a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources hatchery and the photo was taken at a release point along the river in Morgan County.