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<br />Utah biologist values recovering rare fish, educating public
<br />
<br />By Brent Stettler
<br />Information and Education Mgr,
<br />Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
<br />Tom Chart, a researcher with the
<br />Utah Division of Wildlife Resources,
<br />looks like he just stepped off a
<br />"Grizzly Adams" set. Mantled with
<br />thick black hair and a full, bushy
<br />beard, Chart is a part of the effort to
<br />recover threatened fish of the upper
<br />Colorado River Basin,
<br />Endangered fish recovery work
<br />takes its adherents over swirling
<br />rapids, through deep, winding canyens
<br />and across river bottoros the consis-
<br />tency of quicksand, Long hours are
<br />spent shocking muddy channels with
<br />electro-fishing gear in search of adult
<br />squawfish and razorback suckers,
<br />The efforts of these fish biologists
<br />are far from glamorous, What keeps
<br />them going day after day?
<br />"You feed off of each other's dedi-
<br />cation," mused Chart, "Although we
<br />concentrate on the fish, our work aims
<br />to preserve the whole river system, I
<br />know we're doing something good for
<br />t/le environment, and that feels good:'
<br />Chart belicves a real danger to the
<br />fish lies with the all-too-human ten-
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<br />Photo by Brian Behle
<br />Utah Division at Wildlife blalaglsts Melissa Trammel and Tam Chart hald
<br />Calarada squawflsh captured during research this summer.
<br />
<br />dency te think that if something
<br />doesn't directly benefit people, it has
<br />no use, He says such a mindset leads
<br />to comments like, "What good are t/le
<br />trash fish, anyway?"
<br />"A big part of our job is educating
<br />people about the value of the fish,"
<br />Chart said, He calls the fish "indica-
<br />tors of the whole desert ecosystem,"
<br />A New Jersey native, Chart has
<br />
<br />woriced for t/lree years with the Utah
<br />Division of Wild Ii fe Reseurces in
<br />northeast and southeast regions, He
<br />received his bachelor's and master's
<br />degrees from Colorado State
<br />University in Fort Collins, Colo,
<br />During graduate school, Chart worked
<br />with t/le Colorado Division of Wildlife
<br />on research involving native fish o[
<br />the White River,
<br />
<br />Study to unravel Colorado squawfish 'imprinting' process
<br />
<br />By ConnIe Yaung
<br />Public Information SpeCialist
<br />Colorado Division of Wildlife
<br />
<br />The mystery of haw Colorado
<br />squawfish migrate up to 200 miles and
<br />return to a specific site to spawn may
<br />be unraveled thanks to a study under-
<br />way in Vernal. Utah,
<br />The spawning research will take at
<br />least twe years; the first-year budget is
<br />$83,900, U ,S. Fish and Wildlife bialo-
<br />gists in Vernal will examine whether
<br />Colorado squawfish and razarback
<br />sucker somehow become "imprinted"
<br />to a pani cular location at an early age
<br />and will spawn only in that site, The
<br />fish travel long distances possibly to
<br />fInd a particular smell in the river.
<br />some biologists speculate.
<br />"In some locations, Colorado
<br />squaw fish have been know to migrate
<br />more than 100 miles and return to the
<br />
<br />same rock where we think spawning
<br />may occur," said John Hamill, director
<br />of the Recovery Program.
<br />Although imprinting in Colorada
<br />squawfish is at this point .only a theo-
<br />ry, it is known to occur with salmon
<br />and other migratory fish,
<br />The results of this study could have
<br />far-reaching impacts on methods used
<br />to recaver the fish, For example, if
<br />imprinting can be proven and under-
<br />stood, biologists may be able ta re-cre-
<br />ate the process artificially by placing a
<br />specific chemical in the water when
<br />the eggs are laid, A few years later, the
<br />same chemical could again be placed
<br />in the river to lead the adult fish back
<br />to the same site to spawn, explained
<br />, Holt Williamson, who directs endan-
<br />gered fish propagation projects for the
<br />Fish and Wildlife Service, If this tech-
<br />nique were successful, it cauld
<br />increase the chances that hatchery-
<br />
<br />7
<br />
<br />spawned fish will survive and repro-
<br />duce in the wild,
<br />Combining stocking with imprint.
<br />ing techniques could be especially
<br />valuable where dams or other water
<br />diversions have blocked paths previ-
<br />ously used by the fish to reach spawn-
<br />ing sites and where the number of fish
<br />is lower reproduction is limited,
<br />If researchers also find that the fish
<br />go to the same site every year to
<br />spawn, that could mean fish that go to
<br />one site are genetically different from
<br />those that ga elsewhere, I[ that is true,
<br />and if each population of fish has to be
<br />,protected. the recovery process would
<br />become much more complex,
<br />''1bis study is a prerequisite to any
<br />major stocking program of Colorado
<br />squaw fish or razorback sucker."
<br />Hamill said. A nationally recognized
<br />expert on fish imprinting will help
<br />oversee the study,
<br />
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