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Biologists find 67 razorback suckers near DeBeque, Colo. By Bill Haggerty Public Information Specialist Colorado Division of Wildlffe DEBEQUE, Colo. - Colorado Oi vision of Wildlife biologists were surprised and elated to find 67 endan- gered razorback suckers this spring in a private 25-acre pond near DeBeque. "We're just amazed The discovery is a tremendous boost to our recovery efforts of these native Colorado fish," said Bill Elmb1ad, a biologist for the Division in Grand Junction. "Last year. we surveyed this lake and found 12 razorbacks. That was bunch, but we had no idea it con- tained so many healthy fish." The Division, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a pri vate landowner. who wished to remain anonymous, negotiated to provide the wildlife agencies access to the lake. The lake actually was a reclaimed gravel pit. excavated when Interstate 70 was widened to four lanes through DeBeque Canyon in the early 1980s. The razorbacks apparently entered the pond from the Colorado River during a 1984 flood. When the river receded. the fish became stranded. State and federal crews have sur- veyed about 25 lakes and ponds along the Colorado River from Rifle to the Utah state line. Never have they been this fortunate to find so many of the endangered fish. E1mblad said. In fact, since 1988 only eight raior- backs have been found in this stretch of river outside the DeBeque pond. Elmblad said some of the DeBeque )lOnd razorbacks appear 8 or 9 years old, indicating they probably were born and reared in the pond. 'This represents the youngest pop- ulation of razorbacks in' North America." he said. "We've seen no reproduction in the populations of razorbacks from Lake Mohave or from the Green River in Utah." With above-average snow content , throughout the Colorado River drainage, flooding is expected in some areas this spring. "So if the river floods, these fish could return to the Colorado Riyer where we may never see them again," E1mblad said. "We felt we'd better get in there now and see if we could spawn and remove some of those fish." Biologists took fertilized eggs from the fish to the Division's research hatchery in Fort Collins, Colo. The eggs will be raised into razorbacks 2 to 4 inches long and used in efforts to recover the endangered species. Ten razorbacks also were taken from the pond to Horsethief Canyon State Wildlife Area. Ponds were built at Horsethief last year to hold endan- gered Colorado River fish, "This gives us a few different places where we have these fish or their progeny. If there's a-disaster at anyone of these areas, we've still got other places where the fish are pro- tected," Elmblad said. "Plus, we've got a small popula- tion of razorbacks at our Wray hatch- ery.so we're finally starting to protect them a little better than we have for the past 100 years or so." Razorback suckers were once abundant in in the Colorado Ri ver Basin. The Recovery Program for Endangercd Fish of the Upper Colorado River Basin is a 15-year program aimed at recovering razor- backs, Colorado squawfish, bony tail chubs and humpback .chubs whilc providing for new water development. ~-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------, Mailing list To be placed on the mailing list for this newsletter, please fill out the information below and send to: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Colorado River Program P.O. Box 25486 Denver Federal Center Denver, CO 80225 Yes, I would like to receive the newsletter for the Recovery Program for Endangered Fish of the Upper Colorado River Basin. Your name: Organization or agency, if any: Address: Comments? ~-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~ 8