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Part II RECOVERY Recovery Ob.iectives and Criteria Short-term: The short-term recovery objective for the pallid sturgeon is to prevent species,extinction by establishing three captive broodstock populations in separate hatcheries that are initially composed of five to seven wild adult males and five to seven wild adult females each, by 1998. Immediate actions also wi-11 be undertaken to protect all wild individuals from harm, harassment, or death (take), protect remnant habitats,- and to restore functions of the large--river ecosystem believed important to recover self- sustaining populations of pallid sturgeon.- Long-term: The long-term objective is to downlist and delist the species through protection and habitat restoration activities by 2040. Delisting may be considered when pallid sturgeon are. reproducing naturally in the .wild and populations are self-sustaining within each of sax- recovery-priority areas. Delisting criteria are undeterminable at this time. Preliminary downlisting criteria have been identified. Downlisting may be considered when: 1. a population structure-with. at least 10 percent sexually mature females occurring within each recovery-priority management area has been achieved, and 2. when-there are sufficient population numbers. pre-sent in the wild to maintain stability. These population numbers are not yet quantifiable; additional biological and population information is needed. These are interim criteria. These criteria may be modified or other downlisting criteria may be identified in the future as more information is obtained. Downlisting may be possible by 2025 if the required criteria are met. Recovery-Priority Management Areas Any remaining physical habitat for pallid sturgeon is typically now only found within the flowing reaches of the main stem Missouri, Yellowstone, and Mississippi Rivers. However, some recovery tasks include actions at main stem reservoirs and in major tributaries when those actions would benefit pallid sturgeon in downstream reaches. Six recovery-priority management areas are identified and will. receive priority for implementation of appropriate recovery tasks. The recovery-priority areas were selected based upon most recent pallid sturgeon records of occurrence and the probability that these areas still provide suitable habitat for restoration and recovery of the species. These areas are typically the least degraded and have the highest habitat diversity, and in some reaches still exhibit a natural channel 16