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Subadult-Adult Colorado Squawfish <br />The Subadult-adult portion of ISMP has revealed several major changes in the Colorado <br />Squawfish population of the upper basin. The most important has been the large year class spawned <br />in 1986 currently recruiting into the adult population of the Green River and, to a lesser extent, the <br />Colorado River. Mean river-wide catch rates have increased in both rivers as a result of this strong <br />cohort. In addition, increased numbers of adult Colorado Squawfish were collected from the White <br />River downstream from Kenney Reservoir in 1989-1992. These fish were apparently artificially <br />concentrated below the reservoir because they could no longer move upstream to occupy habitat <br />available to them before the dam was built. Catch rates in the Yampa River declined in the middle <br />yeazs of ISMP and increased recently. Whether this indicates a population decline and subsequent <br />rebound is not cleaz. <br />The 1986 cohort corresponds to the highest catch rate observed during YOY Colorado Squawfish <br />monitoring in the Colorado River. Although CPE in the Green River was moderately high in 1986, <br />the highest CPE of YOY Colorado Squawfish there occurred in 1988. Although more common after <br />their first summer of life, the 1988 yeaz class is less common as late juveniles than the 1986 cohort. <br />Young adults and late juveniles (i.e. 350-450 mm long) were captured from the Green, <br />Colorado, and White rivers during most years of ISMP. This indicates some recruitment into the <br />adult populations during most yeazs, although at a lower rate than is currently occurring with the <br />1986 year class. No fish smaller than 400 mm long was collected from the Yampa River; however, <br />small adults were captured in most yeazs indicating recruitment there as well. Although there was <br />some recruitment to the adult population in most yeazs, no other yeaz class has been as successful as <br />the 1986 cohort. <br />Razorback suckers were captured from the Green River every yeaz, but catch rates declined <br />considerably in recent yeazs. Only one razorback sucker was captured in the White River and one <br />was collected from the Colorado River-none were captured from the Yampa River. The basin-wide <br />trend for the razorback sucker population is down. <br />Abundance of introduced predators that aze monitored with ISMP has been vaziable. Northern <br />pike were very abundant in the Green River during eazly yeazs of ISMP, but they have declined <br />recently. Their abundance in the Yampa River has fluctuated, but they were more common than <br />Colorado Squawfish in many yeazs. Smallmouth bass were also abundant in some reaches during <br />some years, but CPE for this species was extremely vaziable. <br />The subadult-adult monitoring program has successfully detected important trends in the <br />Colorado Squawfish population of the upper basin. However, consideration should be given to <br />several recommendations that could improve the quantity and quality of data collected. A major <br />criticism of ISMP has been the relatively low numbers of Colorado squawfish that aze collected in <br />some rivers during some yeazs. The low numbers of fish prevent an adequate assessment of the <br />population structure every yeaz. A technique involving trapping fish in quiet-water habitats is often <br />more efficient at collecting Colorado Squawfish than ISMP's shoreline electrofishing. However, this <br />technique is not effective in ali reaches in all years. Another important criticism is that ISMP ignores <br />important elements of the fish community that should be included in monitoring efforts. There aze a <br />number of ways of addressing these concerns, but most of the potential modifications will include <br />increased time or manpower requirements that must be considered before any changes aze made. <br />Some potential modifications to ISMP include: (1) discontinuing shoreline electrofishing and <br />viii <br />