9333

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9333
• Author: Wright, B. R. and J. A. Sorensen.
• Title: Feasibility of Developing and Maintaining a Sport Fishery in the Salt River project Canals, Phoenix, Arizona.
• USFW Year: 1995.
• USFW - Doc Type: Phoenix.
• Copyright Material: NO

FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING A SPORT FISHERY IN THE SALT RIVER PROJECT CANALS
Table 5. Mean catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE; fish/hr) by site for selected resident fish species
electrofished from the Arizona Canal, October 1992 through July 1994. See Table 2 for fish species
codes.
Mean Mean
Species Site CPUE SD n" Species Site CPUE SD n*
CAIN 1 13.56 8.76 23 CTID 1 6.28 4.71 23
2 20.13 16.44 21 2 1.24 2.48 21
3 101.64 97.22 29 3 1.10 1.57 30
5 53.06 36.54 21 5 0.74 0.66 21
7 40.07 44.23 18 7 0.32 0.77 18
CACL 1 2.10 2.61 23 MISA 1 1.55 1.67 23
2 6.73 7.07 21 2 1.33 2.03 21
3 111.27 144.38 30 3 2.83 4.61 29
5 38.14 28.19 21 5 1.34 1.91 21
7 11.69 20.61 18 7 0.06 0.26 18
CYLU 1 14.82 20.88 23 ICPU 1 0.50 0.89 23
2 42.16 46.34 21 2 1.60 2.41 21
3 9.46 21.91 30 3 2.49 4.35 29
5 11.62 21.25 21 5 0.11 0.30 21
7 15.63 27.39 18 7 1.24 1.99 18
DOPE 1 76.81 91.26 23 ONMY 1 0.30 1.42 23
2 7.47 13.97 21 2 0.02 0.10 21
3 21.56 76.26 30 3 0.00 0.00 29
5 4.45 6.96 21 5 0.08 0.25 21
7 2.26 3.46 18 7 0.08 0.34 18
umber (n) of sample days for each site during this project
distributions were generated for roundtail chubs
and yellow bass.
Throughout our study, largemouth bass total
lengths were highly variable (Fig. 10). In Summer
1993 and Fall 1993, we identified 2 largemouth
bass cohorts. During Spring 1994 and Summer
1994, we identified a single cohort; however,
during these 2 seasons our sample size of
largemouth bass with TL >_240 mm was
primarily the result of biased sampling due to
repeated-effort electrofishing.
No gaps were found in the length frequency
distribution to separate threadfin shad into
separate cohorts (Fig. 11). Threadfin shad
exhibited some degree of growth over time
because TL measurements shifted upward. In
Winter 1993-1994, threadfin shad (TL <_90 mm)
were absent from our collections. This trend
continued in Spring 1994 (TL <_ 100 mm) and
Summer 1994 (TL <_ 110 mm).
The number of red shiners declined
dramatically during the last 3 seasons (i.e., Winter
1993-1994, Spring 1994, and Summer 1994) of this
study. We found no distinct breaks in the length
frequency distribution to separate red shiners into
specific cohorts (Fig. 12).
Sonora suckers exhibited a bimodal length
frequency distribution during most of our study
(Fig. 13). To a lesser degree, a third cohort of
young fish (TL 5120 mm) appeared in Summer
1993 through Winter 1993-1994, and again in
Summer 1994. However, by Summer 1994 a
bimodal length distribution had returned.
Desert suckers exhibited a bimodal length
frequency distribution throughout most of our
study, except in Summer 1993 when a third
cohort appeared (Fig. 14). The length ranges
within the 2 cohorts remained stable during the
first 3 seasons. The same 2 cohorts also remained
stable during Fall 1993 through Spring 1994. By
Summer 1994, the bimodal distribution shifted
downward towards smaller fish.
22 ARIZONA GAME & FISH DEPARTMENT, TECH. REP. 18 B. R. WRIGHT AND J. A. SORENSEN 1995