Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Missouri
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Missouri Project


Evaluation of Humpback Chub Translocations and Native Fish Community Restoration in Grand Canyon Tributaries

May 2010 - September 2013


Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • Grand Canyon National Park

Recovery of humpback chub (HBC) may include conservation measures such as determining the most suitable tributaries of the Colorado River for HBC translocations. Translocation goals may vary by tributary, but may include: 1) providing suitable grow-out habitat with fewer predators to augment mainstem aggregations; 2) provide population redundancy in Grand canyon National Park (GRCA) by establishing a second reproducing population; and 3) restore native fishes to GRCA to the extent feasible. A critical evaluation of these translocations is needed to determine success of, and plan additional HBC translocations, which is measured (in part) by HBC surviving and remaining in these tributaries with sufficient growth to maintain condition and presumably reproduce. Coupled with these translocations, there is a need to evaluate the fish communities in these tributaries to determine non-native abundance and its potential impacts on native fishes. So far 300 HBC have been relocated into Shinumo Creek in June 2009, but information is needed on the survival, recruitment, and outmigration of these fish (and future translocations), and interactions with other fishes in this stream and other streams where HBC translocations are being planned or considered (i.e., Havasu and Bright Angel creeks). Preliminary analysis indicated that 30% of the HBC translocated into Shinumo Creek in June 2009 out migrated to presumably the Colorado River (Paukert and Whittier 2010), suggesting outmigration (and survival of remaining HBC) will be critical factors to determine success of HBC translocations.

Theses and Dissertations Publication Date
Jonathan Spurgeon, M.S. 2012. Thesis: Translocation of humpback chub (Gila cypha) and food-web dynamics in Grand Canyon National Park tributary streams August 2012