Rampant illegal stocking in the Upper Colorado River Basin
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 image: B.M. Johnson |
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| FIGURE 1. Limited availability of cool- and warmwater sport fishing opportunities created the demand, and 1) ineffective or conflicting messages to the public regarding authorized and unauthorized fish stocking policy coupled with 2) weak deterrents, have contributed to a catastrophe where anglers have now established populations of almost a dozen species of nonnative sport fish in at least 22 reservoirs connected to critical habitat for endangered fish in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming (B.M. Johnson, unpublished data). | |
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| FIGURE 2. Meanwhile, the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program is spending about $1,000,000 per year suppressing nonnative fish in critical habitat. | |
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Recent regulation changes which reguire anglers to kill illegally introduced walleye and burbot, special rewards offered for tips about illegal stockers, and outreach about the issue are positive steps toward reducing illegal stocking in Utah and Wyoming.
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