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<br />50 <br /> <br />clearly documented. They were in disagreement with wholesale changes or negative <br />management directions being expressed toward sportfisheries impinging upon river reaches <br />inhabited by endangered fishes. Conflicts arising within and between agencies regarding <br />game and nongame management concerns may be best dealt with by promoting increased <br />opportunities for communication between field biologists and administrative managers prior <br />to decision-making. <br /> <br />There was consensus on the perception that problems related to introduced fishes <br />were increased in severity by other concomitant impacts to the habitat of native fish. <br />Habitat changes, especially flow related, were considered a primary problem by respondents. <br />They also considered some form of habitat manipulation as the most likely alternative for <br />maintaining native fish populations in the face of chronic impacts from introduced fishes. <br />Half of the respondents considered negative impacts to native fish habitat to be the greatest <br />problem and restoration or enhancement of that habitat the most feasible solution to <br />reducing introduced fish problems. Slightly less than half the respondents considered <br />nonnative fish control and augmentation as viable management alternatives. <br /> <br />The objectives and guidelines described for the Delphi technique were followed in <br />the development of the questionnaire and the list of experts asked to participate. These <br />guidelines targeted expertise, anonymity, and consensus opinion of the respondents. Because <br />the objective of this project was the development of issues pertaining to nonnative fishes and <br />impacts to native fishes, the questions were not constructed for specific quantitative answers <br />and analysis as illustrated in Zuboy (1981). Given the subjective nature of the issues, <br />answers, and interpretations provided in the discussion, the results may not be free of bias. <br />As indicated in Zuboy (1981), however, the selection of experts is the key to success, and <br />if the experience of the experts is appropriate to the problem at hand and of sufficient <br />breadth, the results should tend to be unbiased. Despite its obvious departure from the true <br />Delphi approach, this report does however represent a step toward systematic refinement <br />of the issues at hand. If results or interpretations reported here are at significant odds with <br />perceptions of the various agencies and participant groups in the recovery program for <br />Colorado River endangered fishes, further refinement of the issue and consensus opinion <br />through a more rigorous Delphi approach may be a useful next step. <br />