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<br />I <br />-, <br />I <br />~.I <br />~I <br />"I <br />(~,:;. ~. <br /> <br /> <br />[I <br />[J <br /> <br />fa <br /> <br />L. , <br /> <br />:1. <br /> <br />.L. " <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />~I <br /> <br /> <br />1........1' <br />, <br /> <br />L <br /> <br />II <br />,I <br /> <br />t,...,,? <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />cl <br />.1 <br />~I <br />I, <br />I <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br />The initial goal of this study was to determine the status, ecological requirements, and assess the role of <br />stocking augmentation for the razorback sucker and bonytail in the lower Colorado River main stream. <br />Unfortunately, funding rescissions (-60%) made it necessary to reduce and refocus this study. <br />The study focused on the Mohave and Chemehuevis Valleys which contained the last remnant populations <br />of wild bonytail and razorback sucker. Native fish populations in Lake Mohave have been the topic of <br />extensive study for nearly four decades. Far less effort has been directed toward the lower Mohave Valley <br />where natives were last reported inhabiting portions of the remaining, but altered river. <br />More than 30,000 razorback suckers and nearly 18,000 bonytail have been stocked in the Colorado River <br />between Davis and Parker dams during the past decade. Fish were stocked by Arizona Game and Fish <br />Department (AGFD), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Bureau of Reclamation (BaR), and Bureau of <br />Land Management (BLM); however, little effort has gone into examining their fate. For these reasons, we <br />focused our remaining resources at examining the fish community found in the 60 km reach of river between <br />Lake Havasu and Davis Dam. <br />The following report contains five chapters that represent the main components of the study. They include: <br />1. Fish Surveys: Davis Dam to Lake Havasu; 2. Telemetry Studies; 3. Stocking Assessment; 4. Bibliography <br />for the Big River Fishes, Colorado River; and 5. The Role of Stocking in Management and Recovery. <br />Additional information generated from this project is provided in the following papers and reports: <br /> <br />Marsh, G.A., and Mueller, G., 1999, Spring-summer movements ofbonytail in a Colorado River reservoir, <br />Lake Mohave, Arizona, and Nevada: USGS/BRD Open-File Report 99-103, Denver, Colo. <br />Marsh, P.c., and Kesner, and B.R., 2000, Movement of sub-adult razorback sucker in a regulated reach and <br />reservoir of the Lower Colorado River: Cooperative agreement 1445-0009-94-1108, task 6, submitted to <br />USGS, Denver, Colo. <br />Marsh, P.c., Pacey, c., and Mueller, G., 2001, Bibliography of the Big River Fishes, Colorado River, created <br />at Arizona State University, Tempe, under contract to USGS, Denver, Colo. <br />Mueller, G.A., P.C. Marsh, G. Knowles, and T. Wolters. 2000. Distribution, movements, and habitat use of <br />razorback sucker (Xyruchen texanus) in a lower Colorado River reservoir, Arizona-Nevada. Western North <br />American Naturalist. vol. 60, p. 180-187. <br />Mueller, G.A., and Marsh, P.C., 2002, Lost, a desert river and its native fishes: A historical perspective of the <br />Lower Colorado River, Information and Technology Report USGS/BRD/ITR-2002-00 1 0, U.S. Government <br />Printing Office, Denver, Colo, 69 p. <br />Mueller, G.A., Marsh, P.c., Foster, D., Ulibarri, M., and T. Burke. 2003. Factors influencing post-stocking <br />dispersal of razorback sucker: North American Journal of Fisheries Management. vol. 23, p. 270-275. <br />Mueller, G.A., and Wydoski, R., In Press, Reintroduction offlannelmouth sucker (Catostomus latipinnis): <br />North American Journal of Fisheries Management. <br /> <br />1 <br />