7133

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7133
• Author: Jensen, B. L.
• Title: Role of Fish Culture in Endangered Fishes Recovery
• USFW Year: 1986
• USFW - Doc Type: Transactions of the Bonneville Ch. of the AFS
• Copyright Material: YES

other species stocked include Colorado squawfish, bonytail, Yaqui
chub, Gila topminnow and desert pupfish.
Monitoring
In 1984 and 1985, monitoring surveys to assess razorback sucker
movement and survival were carried out on the Gila, Salt, and
Verde rivers and selected tributaries in the vicinity of and
downstream from stocking sites. Monitoring was intensified
through cooperative efforts of AGFD, FWS, and Arizona State
University. Fish collecting efforts were made with seines, hoop,
gill and trammel nets, and electrofishing gear (backpack, raft and
boat mounted) (Brooks 1985).
Post-stocking dispersal of and predation on razorback sucker is
reported by Brooks (1985), Brooks et al. (In prep.) and Marsh (In
prep.). They found that stocked razorback suckers generally held
in the vicinity of the stocking site until night at which time
they moved downstream enmass. They also found predation on
razorbacks by both flathead and channel catfish to be extremely
high. Utilizing a mark-recapture study of the catfish population
prior, to and after razorback stocking, and doing a stomach
analysis of catfish collected after stocking, they estimated that
predation on stocked razorbacks could exceed 50,000 individuals in
a two-day period in the first 21 miles of river below the
introduction site.
Despite these alarming data, several stocked razorback sucker were
recaptured in 1985. An angler "caught and released a 17-inch
razorback sucker in the Beasley Flat area of the Verde River" and
reported it to the AGFD. Bill Kepner, RCA specialist, FWS-
Phoenix, "captured and released a marked 15 inch, 1.25 lb specimen
from the Gila River at Allenville" southwest of ?hoenix. FF1~ -~
personnel recaptured 16 razorbacks from Carrizo and Cedar Creeks
on the Ft. Apache Indian Reservation (FAIR), AZ. AGFD and FWS
personnel collected 60 specimens from backwater pools on Bonito
Creek, a Gila River tributary. The only previous recapture was by
BLM personnel from the Highline Canal east of Safford, AZ, when it
was drawn down for maintenance in 1981. Water for the canal is
diverted from the Gila River.
DISCUSSION
Fish culture is playing a vital role in the management and
recovery of rare or extirpated fishes in the lower Colorado River
basin, primarily in Arizona. The success of the Dexter NFH
program demonstrates the feasibility of holding, studying and
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