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Show Record-size squawfish captered in Utah both states. The total annual budget for the survey work done by the states of Colorado and Utah and by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is about $119,000. Colorado squawfish were valued as a food and sport-fish by early settlers, who called the "Colorado salmon" or "white salmon." The Colorado River's top predator until the early 1900s, Colorado squawfish feed mostly on other fish, but have been known to eat mice, birds and even prairie dogs. They are endangered most likely because of habitat changes such as construction construc-tion of dams and introductions of non-native fish. As an endangered species, Colorado squawfish are protected by state and federal laws. If accidentally ac-cidentally hooked, they must be released immediately, unharmed, back into the water. If squawfish can be recovered, they could become a sport-fish, and tomorrow's anglers could have the opportunity to reel in adult fjsh that weigh up to 15 to 20 pounds. The research on these fish is part of the Recovery Program for Endangered En-dangered Fish of the Upper Colorado River Basin, a cooperative coop-erative statefederal program aimed at recovering the fish while allowing allow-ing for future water development. f I If" " I I I f " - i. Bw..nnim-ii.i in, ill itmm w....ai,. Two very large Colorado squawfishone a record-breaker more than 37 inches long were captured this week by Utah and Colorado biologists working with this endangered species. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources biologists captured the 37.4-inch squawfish May 20 in the Colorado River about 25 miles upstream of Moab. Though Colorado squawfish once grew to more than six feet long, this is the largest Colorado squawfish on record since research began more than 10 years ago. Until now, the largest Colorado squawfish was a 34.9-incher captured in 1985 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Colorado River. Colorado Division of Wildlife biologists caught a 16-pound, 35.2-inch squawfish on the Colorado River near the Utah border May 21. This is the largest squawfish ever captured by Colorado biologists, said Bill Emblad, of the Division office in Grand Junction. In recent surveys, federal and state biologists usually have found adult squawfish that are about 1 8 to 24 inches long. To capture the fish, researchers used "electro-fishing" gear, which temporarily stuns the fish and brings br-ings them to the water's surface. After weighing and measuring the fish, researchers release them unharmed into the river. The biologists' work is part of annual surveys to estimate population popula-tion sizes of endangered fish in the upper Colorado River Basin (upstream of Lake Powell). Collecting Collec-ting data over several years will allow researchers to gauge success of efforts to recover the fish. Researchers do not know why they have found these large fish this ' year. But they think this year's river flows, which are higher than low flows of the past two years, somehow make it easier to locate the fish. And although finding a couple of very large fish does not indicate an overall trend toward larger fish or larger populations, it still is encouraging to researchers. "It's great to see that the river system can still produce these really large adult fish," said Tom Chart, a biologist with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in Price. "That's another sign that there's hope." The fish caught near Moab was too long for the biologists' net and too heavy for the scale. It took two researchers, with one net each, to remove the fish. They estimated its weight at 20 to 25 pounds. "When its head came out of the water, we knew it was bigger than any we'd seen before," Chart said. "From fossils, we know squawfish could get huge. Seeing this fish must have been what it felt like in old times. This fish, which Chart estimated could be between 20 and 40 years old, probably was in the Colorado River Basin prior to the construction construc-tion of large dams such as Glen Canyon, Ca-nyon, which created Lake Powell, and Flaming Gorge on the Green River in Utah. Unlike some older fish, this fish looked very healthy, he said. Since May 6, Elmblad and his crew also caught and released six other squawfish on the Colorado River, 13 on the Yampa River and two on the White River. Chart and other Utah biologists captured and released 42 squawfish on the Green River and nine on the Colorado River this spring. This year's survey was completed May 24 in Davis County torch run coordinator Brad Jensen gets set to high five special Olympian, J.D. Stewart. J.D. started at the Centerville Hardee's and ran four miles to Bountiful. (Photo by Jack Foriska) |