8204 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

1. A total of two additional populations of the fish have been recovered or established under the criteria for down listing. One of these additional populations shall be in the upper basin and one in the lower basin, and also shall have the necessary management programs established to protect and, if necessary, manage habitats to ensure the long-term survival of the razorback sucker populations. 2. By the time all conditions have been met for delisting, there will be eight razorback sucker populations in the Colorado River basin that are secure from known threats and legally protected from anticipated future threats to their persistence as viable populations. In addition to the recovery criteria specified above, recovery efforts might benefit from the establishment of natural (i.e., wild) refugia for razorback suckers. At times, there is excess hatchery production of the fish with no place to keep these fish. It has been suggested that such fish be marked to record genetic identity and placed in isolated areas where there is little chance of mixing with other stocks (R.S. Wydoski, USFWS, pers. comm., 1996). This concept has merit from several standpoints: a supply of fish for future efforts of recovery programs, a reduction of expense for holding the fish, and an opportunity to learn about survival and behavior of hatchery fish. One such area that has already been stocked with excess hatchery fish is Lake Powell (USFWS unpublished permitting records, Denver, CO). This area appears to be well suited because of its semi-isolation from other upstream and downstream populations. Stocking of fish in Lake Powell presently is occurring under terms of a MOU signed by cooperating agencies (J. Hamill, pers. comm. 1996). Recovery Priorities The stepdown outline and narrative of this plan are based on five priorities as described below. These priorities are necessary for directing the allocation of recovery efforts, but should not be regarded as immutable indefinitely. Experience has shown that planning should be strategic (rather than tactical) and should have a relatively short time horizon, because of the very precarious status of endangered species (Clark et al. 1994). As actions are taken and new information is obtained, this plan must be sufficiently flexible to allow changes of direction in the inherently unpredictable business of managing an endangered species. This razorback sucker recovery plan has been drafted in an attempt to avoid some of the problems caused by an inflexible, tactical approach. It has been written as a brief strategic plan to provide incentives and a vehicle for development of conservation activities involving many interested parties. Conservation of endangered species requires state-of-the-art efforts that may be urgent, risky, complex, and costly. Thus, it is intended that implementation of the priority items in the plan be guided, rather than constrained by the stepdown provided. Existing recovery implementation programs can provide flexibility in recovery of endangered species and work planning efforts of those 37