Federal officials after 25 years have upgraded the survival status of the Colorado River native razorback sucker, from “endangered” to the less-serious “threatened,” with state wildlife officials saying the move is proof that multi-agency cooperation can revive environmental icons.
Some independent wildlife advocates said the downlisting comes too soon and will renew threats to the razorback sucker, which can grow to up to 3 feet and live four decades.
“The razorback sucker’s outlook is no better today than when the fish was originally protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1991, so this move makes no sense,” said Taylor McKinnon, the Center for Biological Diversity’s southwest director. “It’s still in danger of extinction throughout its range.”
But the downlisting has been in the works since first being proposed in the Federal Register in 2021, Colorado wildlife officials said, and “it’s exciting to see it finalized.”
“Colorado supports this decision, and the downlisting demonstrates continued success of partnerships,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Travis Duncan said. “Razorback suckers still face significant environmental challenges, especially in a drought year such as this year, but Colorado Parks and Wildlife agrees that conditions have improved.”
In announcing the delisting in mid-July, federal wildlife officials said the razorback has been protected as one of the largest suckers in North America, “a unique freshwater fish native to warm-water portions of the Colorado River basin in the western United States.” The fish are marked by a “bony keel” behind the head, and can weigh up to 10 pounds.
Razorbacks can survive in a wide range of river temperatures, and seek flatwater or backwater slow-moving habitat. Razorbacks are currently in Colorado, Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, and were historically found in Wyoming and Mexican Baja and Sonora.
Cooperation among federal, state, tribal and other wildlife supporters helped bring back the razorback sucker, according to federal and state officials.
“Floodplain wetland creation and flow management are particularly beneficial to the razorback sucker, and propagation and stocking efforts continue to be increasingly successful over time,” Duncan said. “Razorback sucker adult survival, spawning success and juvenile recruitment have all improved to some degree over the last three decades.”
The Center for Biological Diversity counters that razorback suckers exist only because thousands of hatchery-raised fish are dumped into rivers and lakes each year in the Southwest. Only one population, in Lake Mead, appears to reproduce naturally with offspring that survive numerous predation threats, the center said.
Non-native predators of juvenile razorbacks and larvae have increased dramatically during the fish’s Endangered Species Act listing, McKinnon said, including growth in striped bass, channel catfish, northern pike and more.
Meanwhile, Colorado River flows have already declined nearly 20% amid climate change and could drop 30% to 50% in coming decades, further threatening habitat. The last analysis of razorback recovery was in 2018, McKinnon said.
“Each dollar wasted on this downlisting was a dollar robbed from actual recovery,” he said.
Type of Story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
