Laserfiche WebLink
<br />7 <br />because experience also indicates that they will not survive in the Colorado River. <br />The potential impact of stocked channel catfish on endangered fishes is <br />considered to be minimal. Stocked channel catfish which might escape from Grand <br />~ Valley ponds or Highline Lake to the Colorado River would be of minimal impact <br />because they would disappear into the larger river population and because the stocked <br />fish cannot be expected to compete with the wild river catfish. There is no <br />~ anticipated impact to critical habitat of threatened and endangered fishes in the <br />Colorado River from Rifle to Palisade from stocking channel catfish in Harvey Gap <br />Reservoir because channel catfish have been in this reservoir since 1981 and outlet <br />• characteristics virtually insure that fish will not have access to the Colorado River. <br />Additionally, expected removal of channel catfish from critical habitat would also <br />reduce the impact of any escaped fish. <br />• All ponds and reservoirs proposed for stocking in this document already contain <br />populations for nonnative fishes. These fishes include green sunfish, largemouth <br />bass, bluegi(I, black crappie, channel catfish, black bullhead, common carp, and white <br />~ sucker. Because nonnative fishes are already in the waters, a "no action" decision to <br />not stock sportfish does not eliminate, or necessarily reduce, potential problems for <br />recovering endangered fishes. <br />i <br />Illicit Stocking <br />All sportfish species proposed for stocking in this document already exist in <br />~ northwestern Colorado. Therefore, these fishes could be illegally transported and <br />1 <br />