Native Fish Sanctuary Evaluation

Research Task: RB00CM8.6.0
Task Manager: Jeanette (Carpenter) Haegele

Bonytail (Gila elegans) and razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) are endemic to the Colorado River and represent two of the four endangered, large-river fishes. Recovery programs have focused on predator removal, stocking of native fish into the mainstem river, and more recently, creation of off-channel habitats, or fish sanctuaries, dedicated to raising native fish. This study is evaluating the feasibility and success of using smaller (<5 acre), more manageable ponds as sanctuaries for these species. (Young fish are raised to a size more likely to survive in the mainstem Colorado River.) Sanctuary evaluation involves several phases: (1) examining existing small ponds for suitability; (2) working with management agencies and other partners to salvage, renovate, and stock native fish into potential sanctuaries; (3) developing and initiating monitoring plans for each sanctuary; and (4) initiating new research to fill information gaps that may be impeding effective sanctuary management. For example, this study examines whether conditioning in a controlled environment, through various levels of physical activity and exposure to predation threats, improves the ability of recently stocked, warm-water native fish to avoid and escape predators. Increased survivorship would result in economic savings by reducing the number of fish required to reach reintroduction goals. A second related study is evaluating remote fish-censusing techniques, including high-resolution aerial photography and systematic counts by observers in boats to estimate population sizes. Effective remote censusing techniques may reduce handling stress on rare fish. Partners include biologists and natural resource managers from the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, California Department of Fish and Game, The Nature Conservancy, and Arizona State University.

 For more information contact Jeanette (Carpenter) Haegele

Related Products

Publications

• Biological and water quality monitoring of native fish sanctuaries in the lower Colorado River Basin, 2005-2009
• Techniques for monitoring Razorback Sucker in the Lower Colorado River, Hoover to Parker Dams, 2006-2007, Final Report
• Biological and water quality monitoring of native fish sanctuaries in the lower Colorado River Basin, 2006-2007
• Competition for food between an introduced crayfish and two fishes endemic to the Colorado River basin
• Native fish sanctuaries of the Lower Colorado River: Cibola High Levee Pond Desert Pupfish Pond
• Predatory fish removal and native fish recovery in the Colorado River mainstem: what have we learned?
• Reintroduction of the flannelmouth sucker in the lower Colorado River
• A conservation plan for native fishes of the Lower Colorado River
• The role of stocking in the reestablishment and augmentation of native fish in the lower Colorado River mainstem (1998-2002)
• Lost, a desert river and its native fishes: a historical perspective of the lower Colorado River
• Examination of native fish recruitment and description of the fish communities found in the San Juan and Colorado River interface zones of Lake Powell, Utah
• Distribution, movements, and habitat use of razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) in a lower Colorado River Reservoir, Arizona-Nevada
• Spring-summer movements of Bonytail in a Colorado River reservoir, Lake Mohave, Arizona and Nevada
• Post-Stocking dispersal, Habitat Use, and Behavioral Acclimation of Juvenile Razorback Suckers (Xyrauchen texanus) in two Colorado River Reservoirs
• Bonytail and Razorback Sucker in the Colorado River Basin
• A program to maintain the endangered razorback suckers in a highly modified riverine habitat
• Observations of spawning razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) utilizing riverine habitat in the Lower Colorado River, Arizona-Nevada

Web Sites

• Riverine science at the Fort Collins Science Center