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<br />001753 <br /> <br />30 <br /> <br />support for the stock assessment models, but did make suggestions regarding additional <br />simulation efforts associated with the model. <br />Associated with the 2003-2004 adaptive management experiment approved by the <br />Secretary of Interior, a program of mechanical removal of non-native fishes near the confluence <br />of the Little Colorado was implemented in 2003. This work continued into 2004-2005 as <br />recommended. Results from 2003 through March 2004 suggest the efficacy of mechanical <br />removal of non-native salmonids is quite high (>50%)" but that immigration offish back into the <br />removal reaches is substantial. Therefore, frequent removal of non-native fishes is necessary to <br />maintain low abundance. <br /> <br />Experimental Flows Update <br />In December 2002, U.S. Secretary ofInterior Norton approved an adaptive management <br />experiment to be conducted in Grand Canyon National Park. This experiment, recommended by <br />the GCMRC, began in January 2003 and consists of eli~ments designed to provide a better <br />understanding of both sediment and fisheries resources. As part of the current GCMRC Adaptive <br />Management Program, a key objective is to determine whether certain policy actions are <br />improving humpback chub juvenile survival and recruitment. A central part of the fisheries <br />experiment includes reducing the abundance of non-native fishes in a 16.5-mile reach of the <br />Colorado River near the confluence of the Little Colorado River (LCR; RM 56.2-72.7). This <br />experimental manipulation has been implemented in an attempt to better understand interactions <br />between native and non-native fishes, particularly non-native coldwater salmonids and the <br />federally endangered humpback chub. <br />The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center, at the Direction of the Glen Canyon <br />Dam Adaptive Management Program, began implementation of non-native fish control in the <br />LCR inflow area of the Colorado River in January of 2003 as part of a joint federal action <br />entitled "Proposed Experimental Flows and Removal of Non-Native Fishes." The fisheries <br />objective of this action was to reduce the number of potential predatory and competitor fishes in <br />habitat occupied by the federally endangered humpback chub, Gila cypha. The fish control effort <br />uses electrofishing and had three primary purposes: <br />· determine the efficacy of this technique to reduce and control the number of non- <br />native fishes in critical habitat for the humpback chub, <br /> <br />GCMRC FY2006 Annual Work Plan (Draft February 15,2005) <br />