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estimates for 2002 and 2003 that were only slightly lower than those for 2000 and 2001, in spite <br />of small capture samples. However, with the exception of 2001, the limited number of fish <br />captured and recaptured in the Yampa River resulted in abundance estimates that were relatively <br />imprecise (high CV's, wide CI's) so definitive statements about the status of Colorado <br />pikeminnow in the Yampa River were difficult to make. <br />Declines of adult Colorado pikeminnow in the White River and middle Green River reach <br />appear more pronounced and were particularly important because those areas represented the <br />largest segments of the Green River Basin population. Abundance reductions in the middle <br />Green River reach may even be conservative given that the 0-analysis suggested that area was a <br />sink for Colorado pikeminnow moving from other reaches. The slope estimate for regression <br />relationships of loge abundance as a function of time is an estimate of the percent annual change <br />in the population. The negative and relatively large slope estimates for the White River and the <br />middle Green River reach suggested that the factor(s) influencing apparent basinwide abundance <br />declines were more acute there. <br />Decline in abundance of adult Colorado pikeminnow in the lower Green River reach was <br />not as severe as in the middle Green River reach or the White River. A relatively small apparent <br />decline in the Desolation-Gray Canyon reach occurred over the term of the study. The smaller <br />reduction relative to the other reaches may be due to the relatively large number of Colorado <br />pikeminnow moving into that reach annually, as shown by the transition rate estimates. <br />Trends in point estimates also suggested a decline in abundance of recruits for most <br />reaches where they occurred, with the exception of the lower Green River, where they apparently <br />increased slightly in 2003. Abundance estimates for recruits in each river reach generally had <br />relatively broad and overlapping confidence limits. <br />44