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<br />002836 <br /> <br />Stocking Plan - Colorado squawfIsh (Table 3) <br />Colorado squawfish are designated as the third priority species in this plan. This ranking <br />results from the relative abundance of Colorado squawfish populations in the Yampa, White, and <br />Colorado rivers compared to razorback sucker and bony tail, The primary objective of stocking <br />Colorado squawfish in Colorado is to restore populations in unoccupied riveT reaches upstream <br />of instream barriers, At this time, the development of a Colorado River brood stock is <br />incomplete, and needs to be resumed with the collection of additional adult fish from the <br />Colorado and Gunnison rivers to supplement the 17 family lots created from the 5x5 breeding <br />matrix of Colorado River fish only. It is presumed at this time, since the construction and <br />operation of the Redlands fish passage structure and translocation of adult Colorado squawfish <br />from below the barrier to the river above, that mixing of the genetic material between the <br />populations occurring in the two rivers is expected and desirable, Planning for the acquisition <br />of the necessary fish and development of an acceptable mating strategy to incorporate existing <br />genetic material from Gunnison River Colorado squawfish into the existing broodstock should <br />be initiated as soon as possible by the Propagation Coordinator for the Recovery Program, <br /> <br />The initial development of broodstock for Colorado squawfish from the Grand Valley <br />reach of the Colorado River was conducted according to appropriate guidelines (Williamson and <br />Wydoski 1994), so that this broodstock and its progeny should reflect the genetic diversity <br />present in the wild population, Expansion of the existing broodstock using wild Colorado <br />squawfish from the Gunnison River fish seems logical and appropriate according to the genetics <br />management guidelines, From this perspective, the genetics risks associated with broodstock <br />development are negligible. The risk assessment centers on two issues: (1) the preference for <br />restoration stocking of hatchery-reared fish in unoccupied river reaches located upstream of <br />occupied habitat versus a preference for natural or enhanced (via translocation) recolonization <br />of unoccupied habitat by passage of fish past barriers, and (2) movement of stocked fish <br />downstream into reaches occupied by wild Colorado squawfish, <br /> <br />Osmundson and Burnham (1996) estimated the population size of Colorado squawfish in <br />the Grand Valley reach of the Colorado River to be about 250 fish or 4/mile, and 340-390 fish <br /> <br />DRAFT - June 4, 1997 <br /> <br />12 <br />