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0 <br />0 <br />evaluation will be short-term, e. g., two to five years. If experimental <br />stocking indicates that further stocking has utility, several years will <br />probably be required to develop a thorough stocking and evaluation program. <br />This is a long-term commitment that will require monitoring over several <br />years. Monitoring could be divided into three 5-year increments. Direction <br />of each subsequent 5-year program would depend on evaluation of the preceding <br />5-year program. <br />Establishing Recovery Goals <br />Establishing clear, objective recovery goals for razorback sucker is <br />widely recognized as being critically important. They are of fundamental <br />importance because they are the criteria against which the potential benefits <br />of a stocking program must be gauged. Measuring the success or failure of <br />such a program or determining when objectives are achieved will be difficult <br />if goals are not defined. Moreover, this is compounded by the fact that <br />opinions about what constitutes recovery--and therefore the ultimate success <br />R <br />or failure of an augmentation program--vary widely among field researchers and <br />administrators. <br />Experimental Stocking <br />General <br />Artificial propagation and stocking of endangered fish is a potentially <br />vital component to their recovery in the upper Colorado River. Stocking <br />hatchery-reared fish into the wild has been suggested as a management tool to <br />augment existing wild populations or to restore rare fish populations in the <br />upper Colorado River basin (Valentine 1983; Archer et al. 1985; Valdez 1985; <br />9 <br />P