1995 Washington, D.C. Briefing Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin

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Recovery Program elements The following are the five elements of the Recovery Program: • Habitat management, which includes identifying and acquiring in- stream flows and changing operations of Federal dam to benefit endangered fish. • Habitat development, which means restoring flood plain habitats and constructing fish pas- sageways around dams and other barriers. • Native fish propagation, which involves establishing methods and facilities for holding adult broodstock, which will prevent extinction and maintain genetic resources; developing grow -out ponds; conducting research to improve survival of endangered fish raised in captivity and stocked in the wild; and supporting appropriate stocking and reintroduction efforts. • Non - native species and sport - fishing, which entails managing detrimental non - native fish species in critical habitat of endangered fish. This element also involves distributing information to anglers to reduce accidental taking of endangered fish. • Research, monitoring and data management, which is aimed at gaining a better understand- ing of what the fish need to survive, grow and reproduce in the wild. It includes maintaining data on the numbers, sizes and locations of endangered fish captured during research studies; moni- toring endangered fish population trends; and making recommendations on river flows. Researchers use 'electro- fishing' gear to allow them to capture and count endangered fish in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The fish are weighed, measured, tagged and then released back into the wild. 7