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1996 Paria River Native Fish Monitoring Methods Seine hauls were conducted using a 4.6 x 1.8 m straight seine with a 4.8 mm nylon mesh at Sites 1 - 9. Site 10 was sampled using a 10.0 x ].S m bag seine with a 1.8 x 1.8 x 1.8 m bag with 6.4 mm mesh. Only one seine haul was made at each site, with the exception of Site 10, at which from 1-5 hauls were made. Fish were identified to species, measured for total length (TL; mm), weighed (0.0 g) and released alive at site of capture. All native fish > 150 mm TL were scanned for the presence of a PIT tag. If no tag was present, one was inserted into the fish. PIT tag numbers were recorded for all fish. abitat Habitat data were collected at a representative location within each sampling site. Depth (cm; maximum and representative), velocity (cm/s) and temperature (°C) were recorded at all sites sampled. Results Fish Collections A total of 859 fish of four species was caught in the Paria River in 1996. Speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus) was the most common species caught, comprising 59.9 % (5l 5) of the catch. Flannelmouth sucker comprised 39.7 % (341) of the catch. Two golden shiner (Notemigomrs crysoleucas) and one rainbow trout (Onchorynchus mykiss) were also caught, comprising < 1% each. The majority (336; 98.2 %) of flannelmouth suckers were caught at RK 0.0 (the mouth), whereas only five were caught upstream: three at RK 2.6 and two at RK 3.0. Speckled dace were caught in substantial numbers throughout the entire river reach sampled, with the highest catch at RK 0.0 (284) and lowest at RK 1.0 (9). Flannelmouth Sucker The majority of flannelmouth suckers caught were young-of--year (YOY), with only 17 adults being caught. Mean length of flannelmouth suckers caught was 57.2 mm TL and mean weight was 81.4 g (Table 2). • Brooder and Hoi~agle, 1996 Aimual Rzport Arimna Game 8z Fish Departmait 3