8174

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 8174
• Author: Martinez, P. J.
• Title: West Slope Warmwater Fisheries.
• USFW Year: 1997.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Pond Reclamation Scopes o Work
The first scope of work prepared for the Recovery Program details the ambitions and methodology of
the pond reclamation nonnative fish control strategy and includes the funding request for the ISMP evaluation
outlined in Appendix C (Appendix G). The Second Scope of Work detailed the pumping of two "pilot"
ponds for demonstration purposes -- this project is discussed below in Segment Objective 2 of this section.
The third Scope of Work (Appendix I) redefines the annual goals for the pond reclamation strategy for
nonnative fish control and request funding for the second year sampling described in Appendix C. All Scope
of Work have been funded by the Recovery Program.
!licit Transfers ofNonnative Warmwater Snort Fish in Western Colorado
Illicit transfers of nonnative watmwater sport fishes among reservoirs in western Colorado may have
reached epidemic proportion just as the Colorado Division of Wildlife, in cooperation with the states of Utah
and Wyoming, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have developed the Procedures (Appendix A). The
Procedures represent a commitment and binding agreement to oversee and regulate all (public and private)
introductions and stocking of nonnative fish species in the Colorado River Basin from Glen Canyon Dam on
Lake Powell upstream to its headwaters along the Continental Divide, excluding the San Juan Basin which
includes portions of the Four Comers region.
Based on the most recent information, illicit transfers have resulted in confirmed catches or
established populations of nonnative warm and cool water sport fishes in many reservoirs in western
Colorado (Table 9). The unauthorized transfer of live fishes from one body of water to another in Colorado
is illegal. By regulation, "...any fish to be released must be released into the same body of water where it was
taken.". Once you place a fish on a stringer, in a container or in alive well, it becomes part of you daily bag
and possession limit. Even if you are involved in a fishing tournament and intend to release your catch, your
only option is to return it to the water where it was caught.
These regulations are intended to preclude the subsequent release of live fishes, inadvertently or
intentionally, into other waters where they are not intended to be part of the Division of Wildlife's overall
fishery management strategy.
In addition to being illegal, the unauthorized transfer of nonnative fishes pose serious threats to
established fisheries maintained by natural reproduction or by stocking from the State's hatcheries. Illicit
introductions also pose serious threats to native fishes through predation and competition and often frustrate
efforts to recover endangered fishes. Adult northern pike and walleye, for example, rely almost exclusively
on fish as food and exhibit a strong preference for soft-rayed prey which, in western Colorado, often means
suckers, both native and nonnative, and salmonids. In the absence of these soft-rayed species, these predators
will consume spiny-rayed fishes such as bluegill, perch, and crappie.
Predation by nonnative fish species on native fishes raises concern about native fish preservation and
recovery of endangered species. Predation on trout may mean fewer trout for trout anglers, or that more trout
must be stocked to offset these predation losses. Predators consuming spiny-rayed species can affect some
anglers directly by reducing catches of panfish, or by resulting in competition for these important prey of
bass.
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