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occurred in the Yampa River rather than an upstream reservoir. Nesler (1995) removed <br />northern pike from backwaters in the Juniper, Maybell, and Lily Park reaches and reported a <br />general decrease in catch rates for the three sites during the 4-year study. He concluded that <br />it would be possible to reduce the northern pike population in the Yampa River by <br />mechanical removal. <br />Tyus and Beard (1990) removed 58 northern pike from the Green River over a 5-year <br />period to investigate food habits. They reported a gradual increase in numbers collected <br />during the study period, but effort may have varied from year to year. The Interagency <br />Standardized Monitoring Program (ISMP) reported a decrease in pike numbers in the same <br />area during 3 years when the two studies overlapped (McAda et al. 1994). It is not clear <br />why there are discrepancies in the two data sets, but the decrease in ISMP catch rates may <br />simply reflect the removal efforts of Tyus and Beard (1990). As in the Gunnison and lower <br />Yampa rivers, northern pike do not reproduce in this reach of the Green River and <br />recruitment is from subadults and adults moving into the area. <br />Lentsch et al. (1996) reviewed the literature to evaluate options for selective control of <br />nonnative fishes in the Upper Colorado River Basin. They felt that it was possible to reduce <br />northern pike abundance in the upper basin by targeting areas where they are common or <br />congregate for spawning. However, in habitats where successful reproduction occurs, <br />attempts to reduce northern pike populations by mechanical means have been relatively <br />unsuccessful (reviewed by Nesler 1995). <br />The Gunnison River is historic habitat for razorback sucker, but no wild fish have been <br />collected there since the mid 1980's (Burdick 1995). However, it is listed as Critical Habitat <br />for the species (USFWS 1994) and preliminary attempts to reintroduce razorback sucker to <br />the Gunnison River have begun. About 300 7-15-em-long fish were stocked in fall, 1995 <br />and about 300 30-40-cm-long fish were stocked in fall, 1996 (Burdick and Bonar 1997). <br />Stocking rates are expected to increase in the future. These fish were stocked in backwaters <br />and other quiet water habitats near Delta-the same habitats occupied by the northern pike <br />before their removal. Based on northern pike gape data presented by Nesler (1995), <br />razorback suckers in the first stocking would have been vulnerable to predation by all but the <br />14 <br />