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<br /> <br />sh rescue <br /> <br />/'33 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />ed <br /> <br />..:Jk. <br />~~ <br />~ <br />1/-.;)..97 <br /> <br /> <br />Survival dependent on predator elimination, biologist says <br /> <br />By GARY IWlMlIfl <br />llle 1Jai~ Smti",1 <br /> <br />Biologists and wiIdlif~ ofIiciaIs <br />might ne\'er frod out what will save <br />tbe Colorado squawfish from extinc- <br />lion unless they fU"St save its larvae <br />from being sIu'edded and devoured <br />by fathead minnow" and red shiners. <br />Until !hey control those and other <br />predatory newoomets which now <br />make up helweIID 90 and 95 percentaf <br />lhe nsh in the Colorado River. offi. <br />cials are wasting precious lime argu. <br />ing aboul how 10 control river !lows. <br />said Dr. Harold'l'yus, the most prolif- <br />ic of authors on the squawfish. <br />U A serious sbortcoming'" in elTorts <br />Ix> save the endangered fish of th~ up- <br />per Colorado River "has been the <br />lack of emphasis on biotic factors. es- <br />pecially introduced. nonnative fISh. <br />es," 'I'yus w1'o,te in a draft report <br />dated Aug.!. "To date, little ~ been <br />don~ to control or reduce the abun. <br />dance of oonnative fishes and it is <br />doubtful ifreco\-erywiIlbesuccessfuI <br />unliI!:hat happens.... <br /> <br /> <br />other species -the humpback chub, <br />ramrback sucker and bonytaII chub <br />-is lbejob of the U.s. Fish & Wildlife <br />Service, an agency for which Tyus <br />has worked and which frequently <br />cites his work in its own studies. Ty- <br />us DOW works wilh the Universily of <br />Colorado at Boulder's Center for. <br />Limnology. <br />iii a move intended 16 allow the <br />agency Ix> \\'Drk on S8\ingendangered <br />lish without slopping development of <br />the river - diversions and imJlDlll1d- . <br />menls to serve human needs - the <br />agency and the states of Colorado, <br />New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, <br />The l3ct is. 'I'yus said in a tole- happened roonly I percentoflhespe- water development and environmen- <br />phone interview, biologists simply cies declared endangered under lire lIl1 inlerests formed the Endangered <br />can't gauge the value ofreco\'l!t'Y ef- 19'13act. FIsh Recovery Program: <br />fons suclt as con1roUing river flows The squal'lfish, once the king spe. Decisions about a multitude of fae. <br />unlil Ihe squawfish is reslored to its cies of the river, nol'l sees its larvae klrsalf~inglheendangeredflSh a'" <br />hisloric predatory .latus from ils beooming forage for small fISh, its made through Ihe program, which <br />current position two, three or four }'OUllg having 10 compete with im. oornmands the lo}'llily of its partiei. <br />links down Ihe food chain. ports for scarce rood and. in an ultl- panls by promJsing to spare all un- <br />Once that happells, biologists can male indignily, some of Ute larger told adniinlslralive headaches and <br />gel a beller idea of wba' harms and specim!lns cltokjog ~ dis~rnJiting oulrigh( court fights "wMe allowing <br />what benefils the squa...fisb and li:equency aD the .pmes of mvaders' .' _ . . .'_ . .:"' ." <br />move lowanl declaring il no. longer ;'such~cltanDelcalfish. :r....... SeeRESCil" ge1DA ~ <br />endangered, - something that has Savmg,!he squaWilS~ and three' .. pa <br /> <br />~ <br />r <br />~ <br />c <br />, <br />t <br />