| Colorado high school is fighting to save razorback suckers | |
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Palisade High School, a twenty minute drive from where I live in Colorado, has something unusual – a fish hatchery. When I read about this, I had to visit the school to see for myself.
Razorback suckers (Xyrauchen texanus), the only fish raised at Palisade’s hatchery, once lived throughout the Colorado River Basin from Wyoming to Baja California, Mexico. As is typical of many fish native to the western US, damming of rivers, introduction of non-native sport fishes and irrigation channels have taken a toll. |
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The critically endangered fish is still found in small and fragmented populations throughout the Colorado River Basin and a few reservoirs created by the river. Razorback suckers are missing from large parts of their former southern range. Since 1991, the fish has been formally protected by the US federal government. |
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