June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program

Each spring, biologists capture adult June sucker in the Provo River spawning run. They conduct multiple tests to learn more about June sucker.

Refuge populations of the June sucker have been established in protected locations, such as Red Butte Reservoir, throughout the state, where researchers learn about the fish’s life history and habitat requirements. Several fish from these populations have been introduced into Utah Lake to supplement the wild population and have migrated to the Provo River to spawn with wild June sucker.

The Bonneville cutthroat trout (pictured) is a state sensitive species and is managed through multi-agency conservation agreements.

Spawning and nursery flows, intended to mimic the Provo River’s natural hydrograph, allow for June sucker to ascend the river each spring to spawn before returning to Utah Lake.

Program researchers and biologists use radio tags to identify and monitor movement patterns of June sucker. The tags are surgically inserted into the fish just below the skin.

Because numbers of June sucker in Utah Lake have become so low, captive propagation and stocking is necessary. This image is of the Fisheries Experiment Station in Logan, Utah, where June sucker are raised in captivity.

A large walleye is displayed while Recovery Program members and commercial fishermen collect thousands of nonnative fish in Utah Lake as part of a study to learn of the prevalence of carp in Utah Lake. Photo courtesy of the Daily Herald.

Recovery Program members assist Provo City workers in herding thousands of migrating carp from the Provo River before irrigation demands cause controlled water levels to drop too low for the fish to survive.