6,700 Endangered Woundfin Fish Released Into Virgin River Waters

October 18, 2007

Release from: Mark Havnes
Salt Lake Tribune

LA VERKIN - Something a little fishy happened Wednesday on the banks of the Virgin River - with some little fishies.

Biologists released 6,700 woundfin into the turbid southwestern Utah river, the only body of water in the world where the tiny fish exists.

Before Wednesday's release, scientists believe, a mere 100 to 200 of the endangered species remained in the Virgin between La Verkin and the Utah-Arizona state line.

"It's important that these fish be planted," fish biologist Steve Meismer said. "It represents the ecosystem of the river working the way it is supposed to. There are not any real economic benefits, but the fish does let us know how healthy the river is, and that is important because if the river wasn't here, then none of us would be here, either."

Meismer is area coordinator of the Virgin River Program, a consortium of federal, state, local and private partners dedicated to balancing conservation interests with human needs.

Wednesday's release cost about $630,000 in money and in-kind services.

Meismer said the project has been funneling the woundfin into the Virgin since 2003. Then, last August, the population was nearly wiped out - for reasons not yet clear - after rain-spawned flooding.

The freed fish, which reach two to three inches in length, were trucked in from the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service's Dexter National Fish Hatchery and Technology Center near Roswell, N.M. They were released near the Virgin's confluences with La Verkin Creek and Ash Creek.

Mike Golden, Virgin River fish biologist with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said each woundfin was injected with a green dye strip that will identify when and where the fish were released if captured in the future as part of ongoing studies.

Golden cited several possible reasons for the species' decline, including nonnative predator species, decreased water quality and increased human use of the river.

Water levels from spring runoff also are crucial to reproduction, he said. "Eight years of drought haven't helped." For Golden, it is a rare treat to see one wee woundfin - let alone 6,700.

"I worked all summer and never saw a woundfin," he said. "I'm thinking of having one tattooed on me so I can see one all the time."