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Razorback sucker <br />In 1996, an "in-ladder" experiment was conducted with pond-reared razorback <br />sucker. An aluminum punch-hole screen was placed at the downstream end of the <br />fishway to prevent the razorback suckers from accidently escaping into the river. <br />Two of these six razorbacks successfully ascended the fishway and were collected <br />in the fish trap. However, to date (through July 2001) with some 43,910 <br />razorback suckers that have been stocked in the Gunnison and Upper Colorado <br />rivers, no other razorback sucker have been found in the fish trap. <br />Seasonal and Annual Use/Movement <br />Native Fish. Native fish used the passageway more often in June and July <br />which corresponded with the runoff and subsequent post-runoff period in the <br />Gunnison River. Native fish use tended to be highest in June in 1997, 1998, and <br />1999, although the overall 5-year total number (9,320) indicated that July was <br />the highest month of use (Table 2). This was attributed to the high number <br />(4,915) of native fish that used the passageway in July 1996, the first year of <br />operation. Flannelmouth sucker used the passageway the most during July (3,468) <br />and May (3,095) over the five years between 1996 and 2000 followed by June <br />(2,710), and April (1,862) (Appendix; Table G.1. and Figure G.1.). The greatest <br />number of bluehead sucker used the passageway in July (5,008) and June (4,652) <br />during the same period followed by May (4,377), April (3,303), and August <br />(2,301) (Appendix; Table G.2. and Figure G.1.). Roundtail chub used the <br />passageway the most during June (1,100), followed by July (805), May (526), and <br />August (447)(Appendix; Table G.3. and Figure G.1.). <br />Annual usage was highest in 1997 for flannelmouth sucker (5,260), bluehead <br />sucker (5,029), and roundtail chub (1,235)(Appendix; Figure H.1.). Usage was <br />lowest in 2000 for flannelmouth sucker (1,212) and roundtail chub (412) whereas <br />1996 was the lowest usage year for bluehead sucker (3,786). <br />Nonnative Fish. Twelve nonnative fishes and two nonnative sucker hybrids <br />accounted for approximately 6.5% of the other fishes that used the passageway <br />over the five years. This compared to nine different fish species and two hybrid <br />sucker species that were collected during 1992 and 1993 in the Lower Gunnison <br />River between the dam and confluence with the Colorado River (Burdick 1995). <br />Nonnative species accounted for 23% of the total number of fishes collected in <br />this river reach during those two years. Identical species composition and <br />similar percentage composition (21X) were reported for this reach between March <br />1994 and November 1995 (Burdick 1997). <br />26