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mixing of water in both areas so virtually the entire water <br />column can support fish during some part of the year. So, as <br />populations of non-game fish continue to increase, further <br />declines (indicated in Figures 2, 3, and 4) in rainbow fisheries may <br />be expected. <br />The canyon area (average depth 60 m) favors production of game <br />fishes because of lack of littoral area. The declining rainbow stock in <br />the canyon is probably influenced by increasing mackinaw stock. <br />The rapid increase suggested (Figure 2) for white suckers reflects <br />location of net sets; nets must be set in what littoral area is available <br />and catches reflect what is caught in the limited shallow water zones. <br />These data suggest a continued decline in rainbow fisheries <br />accompanied by, at least, a stable and perhaps increasing population of <br />mackinaw and brown trout. Whether the evolution of the Flaming <br />Gorge fishery will follow the pattern of smaller, shallower Klicava <br />Reservoir (Europe) is unknown, but is seems likely that the northern <br />two-thirds (relatively shallow with extensive shoreline) of the reservoir <br />will continue to favor production of non-game fishes. The fisheries in <br />the canyon will likely continue to favor trout because of lack of <br />littoral areas but the rainbow may continue to decline because of <br />increasing population of larger predator fishes, mackinaw and brown <br />trout. <br />We have considered introductions of various forage fishes <br />(planktivores) such as threadfin shad, pond smelt, Mississippi silversides <br />and brook silversides to depress Utah chub populations and provide a <br />small pelagic food fish for rainbow trout. Where threadfin have become <br />established in western reservoirs (Lake Powell, Lake Mead), it has been <br />used by rainbow. However, introductions of other species elsewhere <br />have caused depletion of game fish populations while contributing to <br />the further development of a trophy fisheries (Hanson 1976, personal <br />communication). <br />Perhaps what is needed is an indifferent predator as suggested by <br />Holcik and Pivnicka (op. cit.), but that would be accompanied by a <br />reanalysis of the Flaming Gorge fisheries because trout are certainly <br />not indifferent predators. <br />28