The removal of game fish from certain western Colorado rivers will continue this summer under the federal program aimed at recovering endangered native species. The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program, begun in 1988 under the direction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, specifically targets northern pike and smallmouth bass for removal in an effort to recover the Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, bonytail and razorback sucker. This year, the program will be expanded to include 740 miles of the Colorado, Green, Yampa, White and Duschesne rivers in Colorado and Utah.
Officials also are concerned about a third nonnative predator, the channel catfish. Earlier efforts to capture catfish have been ineffective and work with this species has been forestalled against the backdrop of a perceived greater need to remove pike and bass. Catfish research will be limited to a smaller section in the Yampa River Canyon. Meanwhile, researchers will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the overall removal program relative to the response of native fish.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife cooperates in the removal program, with a companion goal of relocating captured game fish to lakes and ponds in the region. Bag and possession limits have been removed on bass and pike in the Yampa River and on certain reaches of the Colorado, White and Gunnison rivers.
