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<br />In 1999,15 bonytail, again from the 1996 cohort (average TL 409.7 mm)were implanted with <br />radio transmitters (ATSiIll40 HZ, 6 g., with a 90-day battery life) at Wahweap State Fish Hatchery <br />on March 13 and were stocked into the Colorado River at Dewey Bridge (RM 94.3) on March <br />24. In addition, two roundtail chubs were radio-tagged after being captured on May 4, 1999 at <br />the confluence of the Dolores River (RM 96.5). The average TL of the radio-tagged bonytail was <br />389.7 mm, and 342 mm for the roundtails. All tagged fish were tracked daily for the first two <br />weeks after release and then at least twice weekly. A total of 31 general tracking days and two <br />intensive 24-hour tracking periods were completed between April 1 and August 24, 1999. Radio <br />tracking occurred from Dewey Bridge (RM 96.2) to Spanish Bottom (2.5 RM below the <br />confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers). <br /> <br />On March 9,2000 a final group of 14 bonytail from the 1996 cohort (average TL 410.7 mm) were <br />implanted with radio transmitters at Wahweap (ATSiIll40 HZ, 6 g., with a 90 day battery life), <br />returned to the growout pond for a week of recuperation, and then stocked into the Green River <br />on March 20. The bonytail were tracked daily for the first two weeks after release and then at <br />least twice weekly. In total, 34 days of general daily tracking occurred between March 21 and July <br />26,2000. A 24-hour intensive tracking session was completed with one fish. The portion of the <br />river near the release site (RM 120.0) was monitored more frequently than other areas, but the <br />section from Tusher Wash Diversion Dam (RM 128.5) to Mineral Bottom (RM 52.2) was <br />checked on a few occasions, as was the section from Mineral Bottom to the confluence with the <br />Colorado River (RM 0.0). <br /> <br />RESULTS AND DISCUSSION <br /> <br />Obiective 1: Reintroduction of bony tail into the Colorado River, Professor Valley and in the <br />Green River, near the town of Green River, Utah. <br /> <br />Stocking <br /> <br />For this study, stocking of hatchery-reared bonytail began in the fall of 1996 in the Colorado River <br />and the fall of 1998 in the Green River and was completed in the fall of2001 on both rivers. <br />During these time periods, 84,603 bonytail were released in the Colorado River and 127,714 were <br />released in the Green River. Fish stocked in the Colorado River ranged in size from 65 to 354 <br />mm during the fust three years (Figure 2). The majority of these fish (82%) were under 140 mm <br />and only 1.6% were over 200 mm. After 1998, only small samples.(100-300) offish were <br />measured and weighed before release. Consequently, only mean TL for each release is reported. <br />Only three releases of cohorts averaging more than 150 mm occurred in the six years of stocking. <br />One small release (104) offish averaging 316.2 mm and two larger releases ofbonytail (average <br />TL 169.0 and 187.4 mm) occurred in the spring and fall of2000 (Table I). <br /> <br />1996 - The first stocking ofbonytail took place on October 18, 1996. Approximately 2,000 age 0 <br />bonytail raised at Wahweap State Fish Hatchery were stocked into the Colorado River at RM <br />96.2 in a large backwater upstream of Moab, UT (Table 1, Figure 3). AU fish were measured <br /> <br />7 <br />