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<br />Adults aggregate for spawning during April? June (approximately 93% of all recorded <br />captures in the upper basin occurred during April? June; 25% in April, 54% in May, and <br />14% in June). Greatest concentrations occur between mouth of the Yampa River and <br />mouth ofthe Duchesne River (GR RMI 344.8 to about 248.0). Areas of concentration <br />include: mouth of Yampa River (spawning area, possibly post-spaWning recovery area), <br />RMI 315?304 on the mainstem Green River (primary spawning area), mouth of Ashley <br />Creek (GR RMI 294.0; pre-spawning staging area, possibly post-spawning recovery <br />area), Old Charley Wash (GR RMI 249.6?249.4; pre-spawnmg staging area, possibly <br />post-spawning recovery area), and mouth of Duchesne River (pre-spawning staging <br />area, possibly spawning area, possibly post-spawning recovery area). <br /> <br />Application of other sampling techniques, as alternatives to electro fishing, using fyke <br />nets and trammel nets in certain confined and mainchannel habitats were initially tested <br />in FY -1996. Captures of adult razorback sucker in 1996 in the middle Green River are <br />summarized in Table 1. Sampling for adults in FY -1997, due to budget constraints, is <br />limited to the Escalante primary spawning area, Old Charlie Wash area, and Duchesne <br />and White River confluence area on the middle Green River. In 1998, areas sampled in <br />the middle Green River during 1996 will again be targeted for weekly monitoring during <br />late April?June (Table 2). Additionally, based on results of 1996 sampling for larval <br />razorback sucker in the lower Green River, which strongly suggest that spawning <br />occurred in that section of river, and results of the 2? 3 April 1997 ISMP meeting; . <br />sampling for adults will also be conducted in reaches ofthe lower Green River during <br />1998 (Table 2). All fish collected will be counted, weighed, measured, their "condition" <br />assessed, and returned alive to site of capture. Endangered fishes will be pit-tagged, and <br />. scales will be collected from individual fish. The sampling period will be adjusted <br />based on timing and duration of spring flows, onset of mainchannel water temperatures <br />$ 140C, and temporal occurrence of adults. . <br /> <br />Objectives 3 and 4. ? Monitor Relative Abundance of Larval Razorback Sucker in the <br />Middle (Objective 3) and Lower (Objective 4) Green River: <br /> <br />Summaries oflarval razorback sucker captures in the upper basin (1992? 1995) were <br />presented by Muth (1995) and in the FY-1996 monitoring program scope-of-work. <br />Results of 1996 larval razorback sucker sampling are presented in Table 3. Procedures <br />for monitoring larval razorback sucker were developed in sampling conducted as part of <br />the Flaming Gorge Research Program study to assess spawning success, larval <br />distribution, and habitat selection of middle Green River razorback sucker, and National <br />Park Service surveys for larval razorback sucker in Canyonlands National Park and Glen <br />Canyon National Recreation Area. Sampling and specimen-handling methods will <br />follow protocols established in these studies. <br /> <br />In 1998, areas and periods with documented high captures oflarval razorback sucker <br />will be targeted for sampling (Table 4). Light-trap sampling at night in low-velocity <br />nursery habitats will be the prImary technique for monitoring. Light traps will be a <br />floating, quatrefoil design commercially available from Southern Concepts in <br />Birmingham, Alabama. Additionally, fine-mesh seines (I.6-mm or 3.2-mm mesh) will <br />be used on a limited basis during daylight (also possibly at night) to document relative <br />abundance of sympatric species not captured by light traps. Monitoring will be focused <br />in the Escalante (RMI 319.4 ?301.7),Jensen (RMI 301.7?276.9),and Ouray (RMI <br />276.9?248.1) reaches of the middle Green River, and in selected habitats of the lower <br />Green River within the Green River Valley (RMI 131.8 ?94.0) and Labyrinth Canyon <br />(RMI 94.0?31.0) reaches. In the middle Green River, sampling efforts will be <br />concentrated at Cliff Creek (RMI 302.8), Stewart DrainILake (RMI - 299.2?299.1), <br /> <br />Page 5 of _ <br />