One of four imperiled fish on the Colorado River will stay on the endangered species list at least another five years to ensure its numbers are rebounding. Colorado pikeminnows, once known as squawfish, are now most common in the Green and Yampa rivers, though the 15-mile stretch of the Colorado River through the Grand Valley that is considered critical to survival of the fish.

Biologists recently caught a razorback sucker in Grand Canyon National Park. It was the first one seen in 20 years and it is believed the fish swam upstream 50 miles from Lake Mead.

On Oct. 9, biologists electrofishing in Grand Canyon National Park caught a razorback sucker -- the first one seen in the park in 20 years. The endangered fish, known for its distinctive humpback, huge size (up to three feet long!) and long life (40-plus years!) was once common in the Colorado River and its tributaries.

With 2012 shaping up to be at least a near-record drought year in the high country, some of the Colorado River’s endangered native fish could be facing a battle for survival, especially in key tributaries like the Yampa, in northwestern Colorado.

Trout fishing suffered on the Fryingpan River above Basalt for six weeks last summer because water from Ruedi Reservoir was needed to assist endangered fish, federal authorities said Monday. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said it released water purchased from Ruedi by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when the agency demanded, or “called,” it in August.