Sucker delisting petition based
on wishful thinking, not science.
October 24, 2001 Chiloquin, Ore. "There is no scientific basis for removing Endangered Species Act protection for the Lost River sucker and the Shortnose sucker," says Allen Foreman, Tribal Chairman for the Klamath Tribes. A Portland attorney filed a petition with the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife seeking to delist the two sucker species that are found only in the Upper Klamath Basin in Southern Oregon.
The suckers are an important part of the Tribes’ nutrition, culture and history. The Tribes used to harvest tens of thousands of pounds of these fish each year. The fish provided a substantial, reliable source of food for tribal members. Now the Tribes catch a single fish each year for ceremonial purposes.
"The fish are in serious trouble, and might have become extinct this year if Interior Secretary Norton had not upheld the law," says Foreman. "The fish are threatened by extreme water quality problems that make Upper Klamath Lake toxic to them. And they face habitat destruction that continues each year. The spring spawning runs have almost disappeared. It is simply incorrect to say the suckers exist in great numbers. And Klamath Tribes’ scientists have shown that dropping the lake below its natural level would risk losing these fish forever."
Tribal scientists have extensively studied the life history and ecology of the suckers in the Upper Klamath Basin. Their research has been extensively peer reviewed. The science shows, without a doubt, that the fish were endangered when they were listed in 1988 and they are still endangered today. "Others may wish that the fish were not in trouble," Foreman says. "We wish the fish were not in trouble. But wishing doesn’t make it true. There is no scientific or legal basis for removing Endangered Species Act protection from the suckers. The suckers are on the brink of extinction now. To remove their legal protection would almost certainly doom them to extinction. The clear responsibility of the U.S. government is to continue protecting the fish, not just because of the Endangered Species Act, but because under Klamath Tribes treaty rights, these fish must be restored to their previous abundance."