News

BIO-WEST biologists had the distinguished opportunity to publish a book chapter on the plight of nonnative fishes to the Colorado River basin. 

The chapter titled, “The Exotic Dilemma: Lessons Learned from Efforts to Recover Native Colorado River Basin Fishes” is part of the book “Standing between Life and Extinction: Ethics and ecology of conserving aquatic species in North American deserts.” 

The book is a follow up to an earlier 1991 publication titled “Battled against extinction: Native fish management in the American west.” 

In this book, conservationists dedicated to aquatic organisms and their habitats document the history of their work, the techniques and philosophies that inform it, and the challenges and opportunities of the future.  

The precursor to this book, “Battle Against Extinction,” laid out the scope of the problem and related conservation activities through the late 1980s. Since then, many nascent conservation programs have matured, and researchers have developed new technologies, improved and refined methods, and greatly expanded knowledge of the myriad influences on the ecology and dynamics of these species. 

“Standing between Life and Extinction” brings the story up to date. Our chapter describes the nonnative fish dilemma, lessons learned, and possible pathways for remediation while providing several examples from the Colorado River basin. 

Brandon Albrecht, one of the chapter’s authors, also served as a co-author on another of the book’s chapters titled, “Large-River Fish Conservation in the Colorado River Basin: Progress and Challenges with Razorback Sucker,” which focuses on the endangered Razorback Sucker.

BIO-WEST has been fortunate to work with many distinguished biologists over the last three decades while adapting native species conservation and management under changing environmental conditions. 

We thank these dedicated and collaborative scientists, the editors, chapter authors and co-authors, as well as publishers and funding sources for this book.  

Perhaps most importantly, this work highlights BIO-WEST’s commitment to science, management, and aquatic species conservation efforts.