Publication

Middle Rio Grande Riverine Habitat Restoration Fisheries Monitoring Spring 2011 Final Report

URL: https://webapps.usgs.gov/mrgescp/documents/Gonzales_2011_MRG%20Riverine%20Habitat%20Restoration%20Fisheries%20Monitoring%20Spring%202011%20Final%20Report.pdf

Date: 2011/06/30

Author(s): Gonzales E.

Publication: Prepared for New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission. Prepared by SWCA Environmental Consultants, 69 p.

Abstract:

SWCA Environmental Consultants, under contract to the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (NMISC), presents fisheries monitoring results for selected Interstate 40 (I-40) Subreach habitat restoration sites for 2011. The NMISC has applied a number of habitat restoration techniques within the Albuquerque Reach of the Middle Rio Grande to create and improve habitat for the Rio Grande silvery minnow (Hybognathus amarus; silvery minnow). The project is primarily funded by the State of New Mexico and the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Collaborative Program through grants with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

This report provides the results of fisheries monitoring activities conducted during spring 2011. Results from monitoring allow for inferences to be made regarding restoration treatments and suitability of improved habitats for various life stages of the silvery minnow. Some of the key results from the 2011 fisheries monitoring include:

• 39 silvery minnow were collected at NMISC I-40 Subreach habitat restoration sites in spring 2010;
• three silvery minnow were collected with beach seines, while 36 were collected with fyke nets;
• at least one silvery minnow was collected from each of the sampled habitat restoration sites;
• the greatest single day collections of adult silvery minnow, bar and side channel collections, and main channel egg collections all occurred during the ascending limb of the hydrograph leading to peak flow (1,336 cubic feet per second) for spring 2011;
• 3,279 silvery minnow eggs were collected from main channel habitats with Moore egg collectors, while 3,269 were collected from vegetated margins of habitat restoration sites with D-frame kick nets; and
• silvery minnow eggs collected from the vegetated margins of habitat restoration sites with D-frame kick nets required less effort to collect than those collected from main channel habitats with Moore egg collectors.