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and compared with Site 2 and the immediate river. <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />Site 2. Razorback sucker appear to be extirpated from the warmwater <br />reaches of the Gunnison River, and reintroduction of this species will be <br />required if recovery and monitoring are to proceed. The goal of any endangered <br />species stocking effort is to establish self-sustaining populations. The <br />widespread stocking of millions of razorback sucker in the lower Colorado River <br />basin between 1981 and 1987 was unsuccessful (Minckley et al. 1991), and the <br />stocking of 6,400 fin-clipped advanced fingerling razorback sucker in the middle <br />Green River between 1987 and 1989 failed to produce any documented recaptures <br />(Unpublished data, USFWS). Those stocking efforts were conducted without habitat <br />modifications. The outcome of these reintroduction efforts indicated that the <br />decline of the razorback sucker is not solely a problem of seeding, but rather, <br />a wider problem associated with environmental changes. Thus, any stocking <br />program to reintroduce the razorback sucker must be complemented with some form <br />of habitat restoration and enhancement. <br />The Recovery Program approved a plan (Burdick 1992) for the stocking of <br />about 20 adult razorback sucker in the Gunnison River. This stocking is to gain <br />biological information on survival, dispersal, and general movements, in addition <br />to habitat use of riverine as well as off-channel areas. These 20 fish were <br />surgically implanted with long-term (theoretical life expectancy, 4-years +) <br />radio transmitters and were released 6 and 7 April 1994 between Roubideau Creek <br />(river mile 50.5) and Hartland Diversion (river mile 59.9). Seven of these <br />razorback sucker were stocked in backwater areas in the vicinity of the Escalante <br />SWA. These fish are fully protected under the Endangered Species Act. <br />The last known capture of a wild adult razorback sucker in 1981 was <br />immediately upstream of the Escalante SWA at river mile 54.0 (Holden et al. <br />1981). The stocking of adult razorback sucker in 1994 will provide researchers <br />with information regarding use of the present off-channel habitats and the newly <br />reconnected off-channel habitats, such as at Site 2. In the future, trap nets <br />could be set and run during the high flow spring period at Site 2 if other non- <br />radiotagged fish are released in the area. <br />Seasonal sampling of benthic invertebrates and zooplankton will be <br />' conducted to determine some dynamics of the food web. Specific scopes of work <br />for biological monitoring and evaluation of this proposed habitat restoration <br />project will be developed and reviewed through the Recovery Program. <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />1 <br />22 <br />