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<br />
<br />N I • ® GONSENVING
<br />ANPERICA'~
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<br />The Arizona Fishery Resources Office (AZFRO) is part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service)
<br />' Southwest Region (Region 2), which includes Arizona, New h~exico, Texas, and Oklahoma. AZFRO is one of 64
<br />Fishery Resources Offices located across the country, and along with 70 National Fish Hatcheries, 9 Fish Health
<br />Centers, and 7 Fish Technology Centers makes up the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Fisheries Program.
<br />' Expertise: The talents and expertise of AZFRO's employees are as diverse as Arizona's landscape. Our staff
<br />(Appendix E) is knowledgeable and experienced in the areas of administrative assistance, aquatic ecology,
<br />budget and finance, contaminants, database design and management, ecosystem management, fish ecology,
<br />' geographic information system (GIS), grant writing, ichthyology, population dynamics and modeling, public
<br />outreach and education, sportfish management, statistical procedures and analyses, and stream, riparian, and
<br />watershed restoration.
<br />Challenges: Since the settling of the West by pioneers in the early 1880s, native fish populations have
<br />disappeared, diminished, or become isolated. In Arizona, 95% of the rivers have been altered by dams, water
<br />' diversion projects, urban encroachment, cattle grazing, excessive ground water pumping, or converted to
<br />agricultural lands. These activities have resulted in the loss of more than 90% of riparian habitat. In addition, at
<br />least 100 species of non-native fish have been either intentionally or inadvertently introduced into Arizona s
<br />waters. As a result of habitat fragmentation and destruction and introductions of non-native fish, 1 of the 35 fish
<br />' species native to Arizona is extinct and approximately 75% are federally listed as threatened or endangered,
<br />proposed for listing, or a candidate for listing. In addition to native fish conservation needs, supporting sport
<br />fishing programs is an important aspect of what we do. In 2001, 419,000 people 16 years or older fished in
<br />' Arizona and spent $336 million on fishing related expenses. The overall economic impact of these expenditures
<br />was more than $1.1 billion.
<br />Mission and Goals: AZFRO'S miss~ia~n is to "work with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish and other
<br />' aquatic organisms and their habitats in Arizona." Our daily activities are driven by 3 primary focus areas or goals
<br />and include Aquatic Species Conservation and Management, Aquatic Habitat Conservation and Management,
<br />and Cooperation with Native American Tribes. AZFRO is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's lead station for
<br />t recovery of threatened and endangered fish including Apache trout and Little Colorado spinedace, and also
<br />works with loach minnow, Gila topmirinow, and the "big river" fish such as razorback sucker, humpback chub,
<br />and bonytail that inhabit the Colorado River. Our recovery efforts include renovating streams and other aquatic
<br />' habitats inhabited by non-native fish species that out-compete and often prey upon native fish. Additional efforts
<br />include constructing barriers to prevent upstream migration of non-native species, replicating native fish
<br />populations into suitable habitat (either natural or man-made), restoring fish passage to previously inaccessible
<br />habitat, and monitoring native fish populations. Last, but certainly not least, we cooperate with our Tribal partners
<br />' by providing technical fishery assistance in support of sport fishing programs, and conserving and recovering
<br />native aquatic species and their habiitats found on Native American reservations.
<br />Vision: In 2002, the Fisheries Program developed a Vision for the Future, which identified 7 Focus Areas that
<br />our future goals, objectives, and activities will focus on. These Focus Areas are: Partnerships and
<br />Accountability, Aquatic Species Conservation and Management, Public Use, Cooperation with Native
<br />' Americans, Leadership in Science and Technology, Aquatic Habitat Conservation and Management and
<br />Workforce Management. The complexity and diversity of our accomplishments in 2004 encompassed all 7
<br />Focus Areas. For brevity's sake, we included each accomplishment only once, even though it may have fit into
<br />several focus areas. For example, most of our accomplishments had an element of "Partnerships and
<br />' Accountability" but this was only the rriajor focus of a couple of accomplishments.
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<br />Arizona Fishery Resources Office FY 20)04 Annual Report
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