7079 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Department of the Interior 1976). Their section II, which purports to describe the existing environment, states that (pages II-63 and II-b4): "In general, major stream fisheries in the western segment of the study region are dominated by such warm-water species as catfish, carp, sunfish, bass, crappie, and pike. The White and Yampa Rivers characteristically change from warm water to cold water fisheries in an eastward direction. For instance, the fish population of the Yampa River changes from 30 percent chubs, 20 percent carp, 15 percent squawfish, ten percent channel catfish, ten percent suckers, ten percent rainbow trout, and five percent brown trout at its confluence with the Green River in Moffat County, to 80 percent rain- bow trout, ten percent brown trout, five percent whitefish, and five per- cent suckers in Routt County south of Steamboat Springs." The source of these interesting figures was not mentioned. Further studies related to the Yampa Project were conducted by Ecology Consultants, Inc. (1976a, b, c and d) to census fishes near and in the intake structures at Craig and Hayden power plants in November, 1975, and May, 1976. Rainbow trout, brown trout, mountain whitefish, roundtail chub, redside shiner, speckled dace, white sucker, flannelmouth sucker, bluehead sucker and mottled sculpin were collected near Craig Station by electrofishing, gill netting and seining. Longnose suckers (Catostomus catostomus) were listed among the fishes collected, but identification was said to be "uncertain due to hybridization." Mottled sculpins were the predominant species, in spite of collection of only one specimen in May, 1976. Mountain whitefish (the predominant game fish caught) and white suckers were second in overall abundance. Fishes collected by electro- fishing and gill netting near Hayden Station were rainbow trout, brown 21