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., <br />'' <br />INTRODUCTION. <br />In April 1990, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR), the <br />United States Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and the United States <br />Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) launched a cooperative effort to <br />capture razorback suckers from Lake Powell, Utah. Previous sampling <br />efforts by BOR and UDWR in the spring of 1987 and 1988 showed that <br />concentrations of razorbacks occurred in the San Juan arm (SJA)~of <br />Lake Powell at Paiute Farms marina and in the Dirty Devil arm of <br />Lake Powell. The cooperative effort in 1990 focused on these two <br />areas. <br />In light of the apparent lack of recruitment of razorback suckers <br />in the reservoir populations, captured fish were removed from the <br />reservoir and transported to a fish holding facility at Ouray <br />National Wildlife Refuge. These fish are being held for future <br />broodstock development and genetic comparison with fish taken from <br />Lake Mojave, Arizona and Upper Green River razorback sucker <br />populations. <br />Water levels in the reservoir were similar during sampling sessions <br />in April of 1987 and 1988 at 3684.45 feet and 3681.69 feet <br />respectively. The reservoir level during the 1990 sampling, <br />however, was 3650.87 feet. At the 1990 level, previous razorback <br />capture sites were no longer inundated by the reservoir. In the <br />San Juan arm, the reservoir extended only to a point 3.4 miles <br />downstream from the old Paiute Farms marina boat ramps where <br />razorbacks were captured in 1987 and 1988. As a result, the San <br />Juan arm was accessed via Copper Canyon approximately 8 miles <br />downstream from the Paiute Farms marina. Reservoir access to the <br />Dirty Devil arm was still available at the Hite boat ramp in 1990. <br />METHODS. <br />An electrofishing boat supplied by BOR was used in addition to <br />trammel nets to capture razorbacks in the vicinity of the Dirty <br />Devil arm. An 8 foot sandstone ledge at reservoir edge at Copper <br />Canyon prevented launching of an electrofishing boat to sample the <br />San Juan arm. Trammel nets were used exclusively in this area. Nets <br />were set and checked with a 16 foot inflatable AVON work boat <br />powered with a 40 hp Mariner outboard motor, or with an 18 foot <br />aluminum jon boat powered by a 25 hp Johnson outboard. Trammel nets <br />varied in length from 50 feet to 300 feet and mesh sizes ranged <br />from 1.25 inch to 2 inch inner mesh and 10 inch to 11 inch outer <br />mesh. All were 6 feet wide multifilament sinking nets. Five to 7 <br />nets were set during the day and checked every 1 to 3 hours. <br />A 5 x 8 x 6 foot nylon mesh live pen supported by a floating frame <br />of 4 inch diameter PVC pipe was used to hold fish before <br />transporting. A 3/4 ton truck mounted with a 250 gallon fish <br />distribution tank equipped with oxygen stones and a fresh-flow <br />