White pelicans on Utah's Strawberry Reservoir

Up to 800 pelicans are seen on Utah’s Strawberry Reservoir each summer as they gather in shallow areas and the mouths of its tributaries to catch fish. Anglers and managers are concerned about the impact the pelicans might have on the cutthroat trout population.  As such, Dr. Phaedra Budy, unit leader of the U.S. Geological Survey Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and her graduate student Kevin Chapman team up with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) to determine what fish the pelicans are eating. The researchers are using three methods to determine what the pelicans eat:   PIT tags, Floy tags, and collecting the stomach samples of pelicans. Anglers and managers will be pleased to learn that less than 10% of the pelican’s diet comes from the native Bonneville cutthroat trout and that pelicans consume many non-game fish.