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abundance of young Colorado pikeminnow during this investigation. Because few fish were captured, <br />estimates were imprecise and reliable overwinter survival estimates could not be made. The fish <br />bioenergetics analysis showed that in some circumstances, increased activity can reduce overwinter <br />survival of young Colorado pikeminnow. Consequently, the bioenergetics analysis could not exclude the <br />hypothesis that stage fluctuations caused by Flaming Gorge Dam operations influence overwinter survival <br />of age-0 Colorado pikeminnow. <br />The effect of Flaming Gorge Dam on fish activity remains unknown because we were not able to <br />observe changes in fish activity in response to flow fluctuations. For age-0 Colorado pikeminnow, winter <br />conditions produce a negative energy balance where the costs of survival are greater than the energetic <br />gains realized by food consumption. If it can be shown that the operation of Flaming Gorge Dam <br />increases activity of age-0 Colorado pikeminnow in the Green River, then further evaluations should be <br />conducted to determine the likelihood that natural mortality rates are affected. <br />CONCLUSIONS <br />Overwinter Survival and Movement of Young-of-Year Colorado Pikeminnow <br />• Population estimates for the 40-mile reach were imprecise; CV ranged from 0.25 to 0.59. The <br />imprecision is the direct result of not catching, marking, and recapturing enough fish. Colorado <br />pikeminnow young-of-year population densities, as measured by ISMP, were one-tenth the <br />densities during the three years of this study compared to the 13 years prior to the study. <br />• Overwinter survival estimates could not be made because population estimates were too <br />imprecise. Size-selective overwinter mortality does occur among young-of-year Colorado <br />pikeminnow, but does not necessarily occur every winter. <br />• Young Colorado pikeminnow moved only short distances both within autumn and spring <br />sampling and between autumn and spring sampling. Within autumn and spring sampling, 95% of <br />xviii