<br />6 . Executive Summary
<br />
<br />Estimated annual survival of adult humpback chub
<br />was 0.755, but the 95% confidence intervals place
<br />this estimate as high as 0.896. Sub adults in the
<br />mainstem, up to 3 years of age, had an estimated
<br />annual survival of about 0.100, and over 3 years
<br />only 1 in 1,000 fish survive to recruit as adults.
<br />Although the various sources of mortality were not
<br />quantified, marking studies indicate that movement
<br />to reaches downstream of the LCRI aggregation
<br />probably resulted in a permanent loss of individuals
<br />to the aggregation. Low estimated numbers of
<br />subadults surviving to adult in the mainstem suggest
<br />that recruitment may not be sufficient to offset
<br />mortality of adults. A smaller than expected
<br />number of younger adults (based on length-
<br />frequencies of adults captured) indicates that most
<br />of the recruitment of mainstem adults may be from
<br />the LCR and not from survival of younger chubs in
<br />the mainstem,
<br />
<br />It was estimated that brown trout, rainbow trout,
<br />and channel catfish potentially consume about
<br />250,000 subadult humpback chub annually in the
<br />26.4-kin subreach between the LCR and Bright
<br />Angel Creek. Surviving fish that are transported
<br />into the Inner Gorge probably have low survival
<br />because of limited shoreline habitat and high
<br />predator densities. Young humpback chub that
<br />descended downstream of Lava Rapid (RM 65.4)
<br />did not ascend this point to return to the LCRI
<br />aggregation, and hence, recruitment potential was
<br />lost from the LCR population.
<br />
<br />MOVEMENT
<br />
<br />Adult humpback chub in Grand Canyon exhibited
<br />strong spatial fidelity for specific river sites, similar
<br />to behavior observed in other populations, Average
<br />net displacement (distance from first to last radio
<br />contact or capture site) for radio-tagged and PIT-
<br />tagged adults in Grand Canyon was only 1.49 kin
<br />and 0.99 kIn, respectively, which was similar to 0,8
<br />kin and 1.67 kIn, respectively for adults in the Black
<br />Rocks reach of the Upper Colorado River Basin
<br />(Valdez and Clemmer 1982). Average time of radio
<br />contact for radio-tagged fish and between captures
<br />of PIT -tagged fish was 93 days and 406 days
<br />respectively. Adults in Grand Canyon however,
<br />demonstrated greater gross displacement (sum of
<br />distances between radio contact sites) of 5.13 kin
<br />compared to 1.64 kin in Black Rocks, primarily as
<br />a result of spawning migrations from various
<br />
<br />Final Report
<br />
<br />mainstem locations into the LCR Maximum round-
<br />trip distance traveled by an adult from the mainstem
<br />into the LCR for spawning was 40 kIn, although the
<br />only mainstem adults that migrated to the LCR were
<br />from within a 13.5-km subreach (RM 57 - RM
<br />65.4). The majority of these fish returned to
<br />locations within 2 km of their premigration sites
<br />(Fig. 6).
<br />
<br />The home range of the adult portion of the LCR
<br />Inflow (LCRI) aggregation was 28.4 kIn, including
<br />13.5 kin in the mainstem and 14,9 km in the LCR
<br />Adults moved very little between aggregations,
<br />indicating that most adults throughout the canyon
<br />were associated with groups of fish at specific river
<br />locales, Of 1,524 adults captured in the LCRI
<br />aggregation (280 recaptured), only two were
<br />recaptured outside of the 13.5-km mainstem area in
<br />other downstream aggregations. Also, four
<br />sub adults (>175 nun TL) were recaptured
<br />downstream of the LCRI aggregation in the adjacent
<br />aggregation,
<br />
<br />Long-range movement and local activity of adults in
<br />the LCRI aggregation were greatest during
<br />spawning-related behavior from February through
<br />May. Adults moved to large local congregations in
<br />disjunct eddy complexes in February, then migrated
<br />to stage at the LCR inflow, prior to ascent into the
<br />LCR for spawning. Adults from upstream and
<br />downstream of the LCR moved simultaneously to
<br />the LCR inflow, suggesting that external
<br />reproductive stimuli, such as photoperiod, cued
<br />gonadal maturation and pre-spawning migrations.
<br />Remote radiotelemetry indicated an average
<br />residence time of about 17 days at the LCR inflow
<br />by staging adults, suggesting that the fish
<br />accumulated temperature degree days for gonadal
<br />maturation. This pre-spawning staging led to
<br />significantly higher catch rates of adults in this area
<br />in late January - March (Fig, 7). Adults ascended
<br />the LCR during decreasing LCR flows, increasing
<br />water temperatures, and decreasing turbidity,
<br />indicating that spawning ascent was cued by
<br />conditions in the LCR, while mainstem staging was
<br />cued by other factors such as photoperiod and slight
<br />seasonal mainstem wanning.
<br />
<br />Adults in the mainstem moved very little during
<br />non-spawning periods, in summer, fall, and winter
<br />(July-January), when local movement was primarily
<br />influenced by time of day, turbidity, flow magnitude,
<br />
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