Saw this on the DWR email I receive...
[url "http://wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/news/42-utah-wildlife-news/335-burbot-captured-in-green-river.html"]http://wildlife.utah.gov/...-in-green-river.html[/url]
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Burbot captured in Green River Vernal — On July 28, researchers with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources found something they didn't want to find: a 21-inch burbot in the Green River below Flaming Gorge dam.
![[Image: burbot.jpg]](http://wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/images/stories/news/burbot.jpg)
This photo gives you a good idea of what a burbot looks like.
Photo by Roger Wilson
Burbot are a nonnative fish from east of the Rocky Mountains. The fish was captured during an electrofishing study to recover and study endangered fish in the Green and Colorado rivers.
"The burbot was captured from an electrofishing raft roughly 1.5 miles upstream of the Split Mountain boat ramp in Dinosaur National Monument," says Paul Badame, Division native fish project leader. "This is the first capture of a burbot below Flaming Gorge dam that I'm aware of."
The burbot likely came down the Green River after someone illegally introduced the species upstream in Big Sandy Reservoir in Wyoming. The burbot have worked their way downstream, bypassing dams at Big Sandy and Flaming Gorge.
Why the concern?
Burbot are a voracious predator, capable of breeding in both rivers and reservoirs. As a result, they can have a serious impact on both native and sport fish populations.
Biologists working on Flaming Gorge Reservoir have already noticed a rapid increase in the number of burbot in the reservoir and a corresponding decline in the number of kokanee salmon.
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This is definately bad news.
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It was only a mater of time!
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We know where they came from, too bad they couldn't keep them there.
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