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<br />Colorado squawfish displayed in water department aquarium
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<br />By Connie Young
<br />Public Information Specialist
<br />Colorado Division of Wildl~e
<br />DENVER - A handful of endan-
<br />gered Colorado squawfish have found
<br />what would seem an unlikely home -
<br />a 150-gallon aquarium in the lobby of
<br />the Denver Water Department. The
<br />Colorado Division of Wildlife placed
<br />several 6-inch squawfish in a tank at
<br />the water depanment, 1600 W. 12th
<br />Ave, as part of a joint effort to educate
<br />the public about these rare fish,
<br />"I want people to see and under-
<br />stand more about these endangered
<br />fish," Denver Water Department
<br />Manager Chips Barry said, 'Their sur-
<br />vival and recovery has a lot to do with
<br />how we are able to manager water in
<br />Colorado, "
<br />Until January 1991, Barry was the
<br />Colorado Department of Natural
<br />Resources director and was active in
<br />the Recovery Program for Endangered
<br />Fish of the Upper Colorado River
<br />Basin, Endorsed by environmental
<br />groups and water developers, the pro-
<br />gram is aimed at recovering Colorado
<br />squawfish and three otller fish species
<br />while allowing new water develop-
<br />ment to proceed,
<br />"The Endangered Species Act is
<br />here to stay for a long time," Barry
<br />said, "We need to learn to live with
<br />endangered species like the Colorado
<br />squawfish. This tank and display is
<br />our own effort to make that known,"
<br />Within a year, the fish could grow to
<br />as large as 12 inches, said Larry Harris,
<br />a wildlife research leader at the
<br />Division of WIldlife Research Hatchery
<br />in Fort Collins, Colo,
<br />"This is a great educational tool to
<br />bring attention to this endangered
<br />species," he said,
<br />Similar displays have been placed
<br />at the Division of Wildlife's Central
<br />Region office in Denver and in the
<br />public library in Rangely, Colo. In all
<br />cases, fish from hatcheries - not the
<br />wild - have been used,
<br />The Division has raised a total of
<br />32,000 Colorado squawfish since June
<br />1990 as part of a study on "intensive
<br />culture" techniques, which uses artifi-
<br />cial diets and raises a large number of
<br />fish in a small area, These fish have
<br />
<br />
<br />Colorado Division of Wildlife Aquatic Resources Manager Eddie Kochman
<br />(left) talks with Denver Water Department Manager Chips Barry In front of
<br />Colorado squawflsh tank.
<br />
<br />been sem to a U,S, Fish and Wtldlife
<br />Service hatchery in Dexter, N,M" for
<br />further research on intensive culture
<br />techniques, In 1992 or 1993, the fish
<br />will be stocked in the lower Colorado
<br />River Basin, downstream of Lake
<br />Powell, where there are no known
<br />remaining "wild" (not hatchery-raised)
<br />Colorado squaw fish,
<br />This group of fish will not be
<br />stocked in the upper Colorado River
<br />Basin, upstream of Lake Powell,
<br />because wild populations of Colorado
<br />squawfish still exist in this area,
<br />Currently, Recovery Program biolo-
<br />gists are concerned that hatchery-
<br />raised Colorado squawfish come from
<br />a limited number of parent fish, act
<br />differently from those raised in the
<br />wild, are "imprinted" to natural
<br />spawning sites and may not reproduce.
<br />Also, recovery goals call for "self-sus-
<br />taining" populations of fish; ongoing
<br />stocking of hatchery fish would not
<br />meet these goals,
<br />Biologists hope that further
<br />research will answer these questions
<br />so that hatchery fish can survive and
<br />reproduce in the wild,
<br />"Hatcheries are important tools that
<br />biologists can use to aid in the fishes'
<br />recovery," Harris said, "We don't
<br />know the genetic 'makeup' of the
<br />hatchery fish, so we're not raising
<br />them so they can be stocked every-
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<br />where, But ~y using the hatchery fish
<br />for research and potentially for aug-
<br />mentation (stocking) in certain areas,
<br />we should be able to recover the wild
<br />fish a lot faster,"
<br />Harris has been studying intensive
<br />culture methods of raising Colorado
<br />squawfish for two years, In 1991, his
<br />goal was to have a 70 percent survival
<br />rate from the first time the fish were
<br />fed until they had grown to 4 inches.
<br />He ended up getting a survival rate of
<br />more than 80 percent,
<br />"That's phenomenal, even for
<br />'domestic' fish like hatchery-reared
<br />trout," he said, (Domestic fish are
<br />those that have, been raised in
<br />hatcheries for generations,)
<br />Funding for Harris' work with
<br />squawfish has come from the Colorado
<br />Division of Wildlife, Colorado Water
<br />Congress, Denver Water Depanment,
<br />Northern Colorado Conservancy
<br />District and federal sources,
<br />To develop a wild source of
<br />Colorado squawfish, Harris has
<br />obtained eggs from adult fish in the
<br />Colorado River, The offspring will be
<br />used in culture studies and then raised
<br />to adults in refuge ponds for possihle
<br />future use as brood stock. A Colorado
<br />State University graduate student will
<br />continue raising squaw fish for the ncxt
<br />two years and will develop a manual on
<br />intensive culwre techniques,
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