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not the Recovery Program believes this goal would be cost effective given the rate of escapement <br />of smallmouth bass from the reservoir. <br />Walleye and yellow perch are also escaping over the spillway, in fact, sampling in the <br />reservoir near the spillway showed both walleye and yellow perch had a high potential for <br />escapement over the spillway as captures of these fish were higher than any others in the <br />reservoir sampling. Interestingly, while crews from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in <br />Vernal (Division) tend to capture walleye at similar rates each year (Table 1), they have not yet <br />observed reproduction of walleye below Starvation Reservoir. The Division's Moab office, <br />however, found one 25mm walleye during nonnative cyprinid removal in the lower Green River <br />in 2000 (Snyder 2000). This has been the only YOY walleye captured in the Green River to date. <br />This year (2046), during other sampling in the Green River, capture rates of walleye in the lower <br />Green River increased :from prior years. It is unknown whether these fish came from Starvation <br />Reservoir, though the number of potential sources is limited to only Starvation Reservoir and <br />Lake Powell in Utah. The actual source of these fish will hopefully be identified through the <br />isotope study currently being conducted by the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Because of this <br />uncertainty, it may be premature to screen or manage spills at Starvation Reservoir. <br />The decision to manage Starvation Reservoir to prevent walleye escapement thus <br />becomes whether or not the Recovery Program believes the risk that walleye will someday <br />successfully spawn and recruit in the drainage is greater than the cost associated with screening <br />or altering management of the reservoir. In the meantime, crews are removing walleye as they <br />are found in the Green River and the Colorado Division of Wildlife is continuing to collect <br />nonnative fish specimens throughout the drainage to identify isotopic signatures that will <br />pinpoint sources of the various target nonnative species. <br />19 <br />