Native Fish Movements In The Dolores and San Miguel Rivers: A True Finding Nemo Story
Russell Japuntich1*, Daniel Cammack2
1Bureau of Land Management, Gunnison, CO, USA
2Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Gunnison, CO, USA
Until recently, little was known about the distribution and movement of native fish in the Dolores and San Miguel Rivers and their tributaries. Water diversions and non-predictable water levels were thought to be main barriers to movement of fish from the Colorado River into and throughout the Dolores system. Use of Passive Integrated Transponders (PIT tags) along with permanent and passive integrated transponder antenna arrays have helped answer many of the unknowns about fish movements in the system while also creating many new questions along the way.