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<br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />the Middle Green River by 500 fish through stocking. In 1996, approximately 1,000 captive- <br />reared razorback suckers from various family lots will be stocked into the Middle Green River. <br />Based on the estimated survival rates, about 203 adult razorbacks should be produced by the fall <br />of the Year 2001 from the 1996 stocking (Wydoski, "Augmentation Plan for Razorback Sucker in <br />the Middle Green River, 1996-1997", April 25, 1996). <br /> <br />The Recovery Program should immediately take measures to institute large scale, long-term <br />stocking of the razorback sucker in the Green, Colorado, and Gunnison rivers, in order to achieve <br />an adequate reproducing adult population that will enhance the possibilities for recruitment in the <br />future. In order to achieve recovery, stocking of at least tens of thousands of fish per year should <br />begin immediately. <br /> <br />There is no point in proceeding with the multi-million dollar development of flooded bottomlands <br />to enhance razorback recruitment if there are insufficient adults in the system to produce adequate <br />numbers oflarval fish. If recruitment does not occur, recovery may mean maintaining large adult <br />populations through stocking. This will certainly be the case unless effective nonnative control <br />measures in the rivers are implemented in the immediate future to remove the recruitment <br />bottleneck. In either case, adult populations that meet recovery goals are needed, and are <br />achievable only through long-term, large-scale stocking. <br /> <br />5. Propagation and genetics management - stocking endangered fish: <br /> <br />A. The "excess razorback suckers" from the propagation program should be stocked, in <br />equal numbers per family lot to insure genetic diversity, rather than being euthanized or <br />dumped in Lake Powell. <br /> <br />Rationale: Preliminary results of the long term, expensive genetics programs developed by the <br />Recovery Program indicates that there are no significant differences among razorback sucker <br />populations in the upper and lower basins. Given this lack of difference, there is no basis for <br />destroying (euthanizing) excess razorback suckers as currently described in the propagation <br />management protocol (Wydoski, 1994) or dumping them into Lake Powell (Biology Committee, <br />1996). These fish should be raised to a size at which they can survive in the wild and stocked. <br /> <br />B. Additional hatchery and grow out pond facilities should be developed and the capital <br />budget should reflect the need for large scale razorback sucker stocking in the Green, <br />Colorado, and Gunnison basins on a long term basis. <br /> <br />Rationale: Given the ongoing recruitment failure by razorbacks, the Program must sustain long- <br />term, large scale stocks of razorback suckers. Large scale stocking is needed immediately to <br />establish viable adult populations. If existing facilities are inadequate to meet this need, facility <br />expansion for this purpose should be the highest Recovery Program priority for capital projects <br />expenditures. <br /> <br />6. Reduction of nonnative and sportfish impacts: <br /> <br />4 <br />