Sucker spawning season is a chilly time to be snorkeling in the Williamson River, but if you need to collect sucker eggs, that鈥檚 really the only place to be.
Shortnose and Lost River suckers from Upper Klamath Lake only spawn on the shallow rocky stretches of a 5-mile section of river near Chiloquin in Southern Oregon.
Catching them by hand is tricky. Stealth is the key.
鈥淕etting into the shallowest areas and then just trying to make as little noise as possible is the way to go,鈥� said Service biologist Josh Rasmussen.
Rasmussen, who until changing jobs this past fall was the service鈥檚 sucker recovery program coordinator in the Klamath Basin, is following behind two divers with a net as they move smoothly upstream 鈥� a sort-of drysuit ballet.
鈥淭hen you just have to slowly get up behind them and grab them by the tail鈥� What we call the caudal peduncle, the fleshy part [in front] of the tail,鈥� he said.
Aside from being the greatest anatomical name ever, the caudal peduncle provides the perfect spot for holding on tight. Spawning suckers can be close to three feet long and put up quite a fight.
Fish technician Joel Ophoff pulls himself along the rocky bottom, appearing almost motionless from above. Then suddenly, his body jerks as he grabs a Lost River sucker. In one smooth motion, he twists in the water to sit on the bottom, pulling the large flopping fish back and onto his lap.
鈥淔inally got a female!鈥� he said, cradling the fish in his arms.
The crew needs to catch and then release both females and males. They collect eggs and sperm so they can provide fertilized eggs to two hatcheries focused on suckers conservation.
These hatcheries could be the last best hope to save the two species that were a, who called the two species c鈥檞aam and koptu.
鈥淓very elder I鈥檝e ever talked to are just like, 鈥極h, suckers are, they鈥檙e so good. They鈥檙e so good.鈥� And I was like, well, I can鈥檛 try it yet. But you know, that鈥檚 the goal. You know, one day that the tribe will be able to go out and harvest suckers every year,鈥� said tribal member Jimmy Jackson, who works at the tribe鈥檚 hatchery, which is focused on preserving genetic diversity in case the wild sucker populations vanish.
Vanishing fish
The Klamath Basin is coming off a tough year. Farmers, ranchers, fish, birds 鈥� nobody had enough water. And the crisis 鈥� fueled by climate change, politics and water policy 鈥� doesn鈥檛 appear likely to resolve anytime soon.
The two species of endangered suckers in Upper Klamath Lake are in the middle of the turmoil.
鈥淲hen I was a kid, there was thousands and thousands of suckers in the river every spring鈥� Now that I鈥檓 an adult, you know, 20 years later, you go down there and there鈥檚 only a few hundred of them,鈥� Jackson said.
Despite being protected as an endangered species for more than 30 years, the numbers of and suckers have continued to decline. Only about 8,000 thousand shortnose suckers are left in the world.
But the problem is not really the low number of adults remaining, but that the fish are all so old. All of the fish the USFWS crew catches are nearing the end of their natural lives.
鈥淔or the shortnose sucker, the oldest individual that we鈥檝e ever aged was 33 years old,鈥� Rasmussen said. 鈥淩ight now, most of the individuals we have in the lake were born in 1991. So that puts them at 30 years old. So they鈥檙e within three years of the maximum lifespan ever recorded for the species.
That means within the next three years, most of shortnoses could die or simply stop breeding because of their age.
This is a serious problem because in their traditional stronghold of Upper Klamath Lake, there are practically no new suckers living long enough to reach spawning age. Nearly all the juveniles disappear right around their first birthdays.
鈥淯pper Klamath Lake is this amazing, spectacular lake when viewed from afar. And suckers, which happen to be very tough fish, if they can鈥檛 survive there, then the whole ecosystem is in danger,鈥� says U.S. Geological Survey fish biologist Summer Burdick.
Burdick has spent several years doing research out on the lake, trying to figure out why young suckers don鈥檛 survive.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of like being the detective in a murder mystery case in which you have many, many suspects,鈥� she said. 鈥淭rying to figure out which of these suspects, or if there鈥檚 a combination of these suspects, that are actually the ones causing the death of the fish.鈥�
During the summers, when young suckers are known to die off, her team goes out on the water to check submerged cages (called mesocosms) at different spots around the lake. The cages contain young suckers, which are monitored for disease and overall health every few weeks.
One year the fish in the experiment died of a parasite that attacked their gills. The next year they died of a bacterial infection. Another year, the young suckers suffered from tail rot disease.
After studying years of data, Burdick came to realize that the real problem for suckers isn鈥檛 infections or parasites.
鈥淭he ah-ha moment was, hey, it鈥檚 not the thing that鈥檚 getting them in the end. It鈥檚 some sort of stressor that鈥檚 reducing their immune system to the point that it doesn鈥檛 matter what the disease is, it matters what the stressor is,鈥� Burdick said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 really what we鈥檙e looking for here is that stressor.鈥�
The stressor(s)
Figuring out what鈥檚 in Oregon鈥檚 largest lake that is stressing the suckers turns out to be even more challenging.
But a few things have become clear in the science.
鈥淲e know that air temperatures in the Klamath Basin have been increasing over the last 100 years鈥nd the temperatures in the lake right now in the midsummer are in the range that are stressful for suckers 鈥� and also in the range that are perfect for their parasites to thrive,鈥� Burdick said.
High temperatures and drought in the Klamath region have been 鈥� the result of increased heat-trapping carbon in the atmosphere caused by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.
In addition, water levels in the lake affect water quality and the availability of sucker habitat.
And there鈥檚 another factor.
鈥淲hat would it take for those [young fish] to die year after year after year after year after year 鈥� for 30 years? In my mind, it has to be something that鈥檚 consistent, widespread and applicable across the entire population,鈥� the Fish and Wildlife Service鈥檚 Rasmussen said.
The only thing he says makes sense are the massive algae blooms that choke large sections of Upper Klamath Lake every summer.
Scientists believe the lake has always had algae blooms, but human development has increased the amount of naturally-occurring phosphorus eroding from the soil into the water. This phosphorus feeds multiple algae blooms every year 鈥� intensifying them and allowing different kinds of algae to thrive. The algae changes the pH of the water and releases toxins into the water.
Then, when the algae die and decompose, oxygen levels in the lake crash.
鈥淲e start to see very, very low oxygen levels, which is poor for the fish. That鈥檚 the same oxygen they need to breathe,鈥� he said.
Some work is already being done to reduce the amount of phosphorus getting into the lake. And the recently-passed federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will.
But a lot of restoration work is needed in the Basin, so any projects to help the suckers will once again be competing for resources with other fish, birds and other priorities.
The older generation of suckers don鈥檛 have very much time.
Lifeline
This is where the hatcheries come in.
The Klamath Tribes鈥� hatchery is the fail-safe. The primary mission there is preserving sucker genetic diversity in case the wild populations vanish.
But for the newer USFWS hatchery operation near the California border, it鈥檚 all about numbers.
Fish counts show that more than 80% of adult suckers survive in the lake from year to year, but for juvenile fish, that figure is close to zero. If the two species of suckers are ever to recover, an influx of younger fish is vital. Raising them in the protection of the hatchery could help.
鈥淲e want to get them to that stage because if they can become adults, then we think they could be out there for 20 to 30 years and provide some stability for us,鈥� Rasmussen says.
Staff tag and release the fish at different ages, locations and times of year in an effort to figure out if there鈥檚 an ideal combination that will promote survival.
Some of the young fish have managed to make it through, at least for a while. They鈥檝e been picked up swimming by tag detection stations in the watershed 鈥� a result that suggests some hatchery-reared fish are surviving after their release.
But in a lake system that鈥檚 so environmentally degraded, where even the fittest wild sucker fish aren鈥檛 surviving, it may end up being more about the quantity of fish released than any other factor.
After a couple final releases of hatchery-reared sucker fish into the lake, which are planned this month, its total number of young suckers introduced this year will reach about 25,000.
That annual number is expected to rise significantly over the next decade.
Last June, the Fish and Wildlife Service鈥檚 sucker fish hatchery was officially designated a, while securing a long-term lease on the facility.
That means early next year, the hatchery will begin expanding, with the goal of eventually releasing 60,000 fish every year.
鈥淚 think we will be able to add to the population and artificially support it,鈥� Rasmussen said. 鈥淪uch that we have time to allow the environmental conditions to improve and allow the species to get back on its own feet.鈥�
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