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<br /> <br />-which life r<:quirements of the target species <br />:are well understood and are provided at the <br />-sites proposed for stocking. Sites must be <br />~onitored to determine this. Habitat loss was <br />-presumably the prime factor associated with <br />.extirpation of squawfish in the lower basin, <br />-and if habitats have not improved, reintroduc- <br />tions are at best a stopgap measure (Rinne et <br />ale 1986). <br />Fish culture has dominated fishery science <br />in the United States for at least fifty years and <br />has been regarded (by some) as a panacea to <br />stop the loss of fisheries. It was not until the <br />decade 1930-1940 that research highlighted <br />the need for habitat protection and manage- <br />ment (Radonski and Martin 1986). In the <br />past, fish culture was not directed at restoring <br />endangered fishes. Rather, it was directed at <br />maintaining fisheries for sport or commercial <br />harvest. There are many questions to be <br />answered regarding use of hatcheries and <br />stocking in management for recovery of wild <br />populations before the methodology is used <br />in accelerated or broadly applied efforts. <br />"Without habitat maintenance or improve- <br />ment, hatcheries should be considered tempo- <br />rary refuges for genetic material and research <br />facilities for laboratory studies. <br />The Colorado squawfish is a case in point. <br />It has a complex life cycle in which there are <br />spatial separations of life-history stages, in- <br />corporation of energetically costly migra- <br />tions, and no doubt other, as yet unknown, <br />components. If management for recovery is to <br />succeed, these and other life-history attributes <br />must be considered in the hatchery/stocking <br />program. Some individuals migrate down- <br />stream to reach spawning grounds, and others <br />migrate upstream to reach the same place <br />(Tyus 1985, 1990). This phenomenon could <br />be based on environmental cues (e.g., through <br />olfaction or other means), or it might be <br />under genetic control (Bowler 1975). Imprint- <br />ing or other forms of fixation of cues may be <br />disrupted under hatchery conditions, and a <br /> <br />The Colorado Squawfish 397 <br /> <br />genetic basis could preclude successful estab- <br />lishment of a population. <br />These migration behaviors suggest mech- <br />anisms for which we only have hypotheses. <br />Ideally, areas proposed for reintroductions <br />should be evaluated and ranked for availabil- <br />ity of suitable habitat for all life stages. For <br />example, shallow nursery habitat should be <br />present below areas suitable for spawning, <br />and availability of both spawning and nursery <br />areas should coincide with proper water tem- <br />peratures and discharges. <br /> <br />Non-native Species and Sport Fishing <br /> <br />Impacts of introduced fishes on native faunas <br />(reviewed by J. N. Taylor et al. 1984) are sel- <br />dom understood and have been largely in- <br />ferred from major alterations of species com- <br />position. Competition (Connell 1983; Ross <br />1986) between native and introduced forms <br />is difficult to document experimentally, and <br />perhaps impossible to prove in nature. Direct <br />effects of fish introductions on native fishes <br />were categorized and reviewed by Moyle et <br />al. (1986) as follows: elimination, reduced <br />growth and survival, changes in community <br />structure, and no effect. They stressed that <br />many fishes are introduced into habitats that <br />are already changing due to the impacts of hu- <br />mans, making it difficult to determine if <br />habitat change, competition, both, or other <br />factors are responsible for decline of the na- <br />tive fauna. <br />This already complex issue is further con- <br />founded by introductions into waters in <br />which species interactions were not well un- <br />derstood anyway. Stocking of new species into <br />an area to promote sport fishing has often <br />created more problems than it solved, mostly <br />because methods for predicting outcomes are <br />few (Li and Moyle 1981). Stocking of non- <br />native warm-water species has been reduced <br />in recent years, and under the RIP will not <br />occur in watersheds occupied by Colorado <br />squawfish unless it would not interfere with <br /> <br />l1~ :11 <br /> <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />II' Illl ',k! <br />: Il"r1 <br />, \ < ! ( <br /> <br />'I II <br />Ii <br />l .1:1 <br />1,)1 Ii <br />, I <br />i ! <br />