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<br />Bonytails, razorbacks stocked
<br />The Utah Division of Wildlife'
<br />Resources stocked 2,000 6-inch bony-
<br />tails into the_ Colorado River near
<br />Moab, Uta,h, last fall. The agency
<br />raised the fish at its Wahweap facility .
<br />in southern Utah and-plans to stocka .
<br />similar number. of the fish in 1997..
<br />Bonytails are the 'rarest of the four .-
<br />endangered Colorado River fish:
<br />In the Gunnison River near Delta,-.
<br />Colo., biologists with' the. U.S. Fish
<br />and Wildlife- Service stocked nearly
<br />300 12- to 18-inch raiorback suckers
<br />as part of an effort to restore the rare
<br />. fish to their historic range. . _ . .
<br />If .the . razorbacks_ drift .downstream
<br />over the Redlands Diversion Dam, the
<br />recently completed fish 'ladder' 'there
<br />can help them return' upstream, a step.
<br />considered crucial f~r the species to .
<br />become re-established in the Gunnison.
<br />Razorback suckers are believed-tO
<br />. have evolved 4 million years ago.. In _
<br />the iast 50 years they have nearly dis-
<br />appeared,largely because of habitat
<br />changes caused - by' construction of
<br />dams and introductions- of nOli-native'
<br />fish species.'. Both raz,orbacks and,
<br />bonytail exist ill the Colorado River
<br />drainage and nowhere else on earth. .
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<br />. .
<br />Colo. Division of Wildlife I~nds a hand
<br />In support or endangered fish recov-' .
<br />ery, . the' . Colorado Wildlife -
<br />Commission has removed bag limits'
<br />for several species of~on-native fish.in_
<br />- designated '~criticalliabitat" for endan-
<br />'gered fish, . ._
<br />Also, the ColOrado Division .of .
<br />- . .
<br />Wildlife worked ,with private landown-
<br />ers to drain arid removemin-nativefish
<br />from two Western Slope ponds totaling .
<br />13 surface acres: The ponds, one near
<br />Delta and' the' other - near Grand
<br />. Junction, were. considered sources - of
<br />non-native- fish that compete' with
<br />endangered fish for food and space.
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<br />Accord reached on non-native fish . .
<br />An agreement on proce~ures for
<br />stocking non-native fish in the upper
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<br />. . _ .'. .' ".' . ".' Photo-by~nnleYo~ng
<br />BiologistHarold Tyus holds one oheven of preserved humpback chubs he
<br />discovered at a museum at the University of Colo_rado; The 1948 Yampa .
<br />RivEn 'collection represents the earliest of these fish on record in the upper
<br />Colorado River Basin. 'Previous c.olleCtions were. from 1970. . .
<br />
<br />. . .
<br />Tyus, a U.s, Fish and Wildlife Service retiree who now teaches part-time at
<br />the university, had been told there was a humpback chub sample in the .
<br />museum: But when he began poking around, he found natime, but seven
<br />, 6" to 12-inch humpbacks amid the sea .of specimen-filled glass jars.'Hand-
<br />written labels allliched to .the fish provided the names of the profeSsor and
<br />students who had colleCted them, Tyus tracked doWn HA Fehlmann, one
<br />of the erstwhile students; who had gone on to become an ichthyplogist and
<br />had worked at the Smithsonianlnstitutian.!'Iow liVing- in Montrose, Colo.,
<br />. Fehlmann lold Tyus humpbacks had been common in the Vamps River in th
<br />1940s. In theYampa now, the,fish arefaund only in ups~n\ portions.
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<br />ColoragoRiver Basin received final
<br />approval frem the Upper Celorado
<br />River Recovery Pre gram and the
<br />Colorado Wildlife Commission. .
<br />, "In negotiating these procedures,-
<br />.some groups wanted to prohibit all
<br />stocking .of nori-nativefisli, while oth- _
<br />ers.wanted no restrictions whatsoever;;. .
<br />said John Hamill of the U.S, Fish and
<br />Wildlife Service. "I believe we have
<br />come UJ' with a -reasonable compro-
<br />mise tliatpresetves. sport-fishing
<br />opportunities while improving condi-
<br />tions for endangered .fish:"
<br />The procedures allow widespread
<br />stocking oftreut in the upper Colerado
<br />River' Basine Stocking of various non-.
<br />native fish is allowed in certain waters,
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<br />. and the Colorado Division of Wildlife .
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<br />. . may implement stocking plans for sev-'
<br />era! Western Slope reservoirs,.
<br />The: Procedures _prohibit stocking
<br />.non-native species within river reaches
<br />designated as' critical - habitat. for
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<br />enciangered fish. Also off-Iiinitsin the
<br />upper Colorado River Basin is the
<br />stocking of black bullhead,' yellow'
<br />bullhead, comI11on carp,' flathead cat-
<br />fish, green sunfish, northern pike, red
<br />shiner, white crappie and wiper.'
<br />To support sp~it-fishing, the Fish and
<br />Wildlife Service has committed to pro- .
<br />_ viding40,OOO catchable-sjze trout each
<br />year for stocking in public ponds not
<br />. considered suitable for' wannwater fish.
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