Laserfiche WebLink
Quantitative collections began in the upper Colorado River in the late <br />1960's when Holden and Stalnaker (1975) reported finding small numbers of <br />Colorado squawfish throughout their study area. More intensive, but localized <br />collections in the Grand Junction area in the mid 1970's (Kidd 1977, Seethaler <br />1978) resulted in considerably more Colorado squawfish than had been <br />previously reported. The larger numbers were probably a reflection of <br />increased effort rather than increased numbers of Colorado squawfish. Recent <br />collections (Valdez et al. 1982b, Archer et al. 1985, Osmundson and Kaeding <br />1989) indicate that Colorado squawfish are still present in the Colorado river <br />in numbers about. that of the 1970's. Although documentation is difficult, it <br />is likely that Colorado squawfish populations had already declined by the time <br />quantitative collections began. Colorado squawfish are less common than they <br />were in the early 1900's, but documentation of the degree of change is <br />impossible. <br />Razorback sucker <br />Razorback suckers were also apparently abundant in the Colorado and <br />lower Gunnison rivers. Jordan (1891) considered the razorback sucker to be <br />abundant in the upper Colorado River and collected some specimens from the <br />Gunnison and Uncompahgre rivers near Delta. Chamberlain (1946) reported the <br />razorback sucker as common in the Gunnison River downstream from Delta. <br />Osmundson and Kaeding (1989) cited reports by long-time residents along the <br />Colorado river of 'several thousand' razorback suckers using flooded areas <br />adjacent to the river during the 1930's and 1940's. Kidd (1977) reported <br />their frequent collection by a commercial fisherman near Delta between 1930 <br />and 1950. Kidd (1977) and McAda and Wydoski (1980) collected a combined total <br />7 <br />