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Wildlife officials removed 1,796 northern pike from the Yampa River in 2004, and a few hundred locals aren't happy about it.

About 300 people have signed a petition asking the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program to stop removing pike from the Yampa and moving them to area ponds.

"They're ruining our fishing," said Diana Knez, co-owner of the O.P. Bar and Grill on Victory Way.

Knez and her husband, Delbert, started the petition at the O.P in late May after bar patrons voiced concerns about the fish relocation program.

"People are tired of seeing the fish shocked for no reason," Knez said.

Crews from the recovery program take the northern pike out of the river by stunning them with an electric shock and scooping them out of the water.

Northern pike are not native to Northwest Colorado, but were put in area reservoirs and rivers by humans.

When fishermen heard about the petition, they came to the O.P. just to sign it, Knez said.

Knez said she isn't sure what to do with the petition when it's complete -- or even how many signatures it will take to complete it -- but she hopes it shows officials that people in the Yampa Valley value northern pike.

"They're going to do whatever they darn-well please, but at least our voice will be heard," Knez said.

Pat Nelson, non-native fish management coordinator for the recovery program, said the northern pike are removed from the Yampa to protect endangered fish.

The northern pike feed on the endangered humpback chub and razorback sucker and compete for food and space with the endangered Colorado pikeminnow.

Nelson said northern pike, which are an aggressive predator, also attack the pikeminnow, which is much less aggressive, despite being nearly the same size as northern pike.

Recovery Program crews have found pikeminnows with lacerations from northern pike, Nelson said.

The recovery program also is concerned northern pike from the Yampa will make it all the way to the Green River in Utah, where they could wreak havoc on fish recovery programs there.

Recovery program crews have been removing northern pike from the Yampa between Hayden and Dinosaur National Monument since 2004.

This year's project isn't complete yet, but in 2004, Nelson estimates recovery crews removed more than 60 percent of the northern pike from Hayden to the monument.

Recovery Project crews remove fish from rivers throughout the state, but the majority of the complaints come from the Yampa Valley.

"The pike fishery has become established in the Yampa," Nelson said.

Nick Kamzalow, owner of Outdoor Connections fishing store on Victory Way, opposes the recovery program's efforts because northern pike are what people come to the Yampa to catch.

"They take out a lot of fish that we should be catching," Kamzalow said.

When Kamzalow found out about the petition at the O.P, he had copies made for his store. In the past month, almost 100 people have signed the petition at Outdoor Connections.

Kamzalow said he wants the northern pike to stay in the Yampa because he's a fisherman, not because he's a business owner.

"I'll sell fishing stuff whether there's pike or not," he said.

Nelson said the recovery project has to balance protecting endangered species with the wants of area anglers.

"It's a dilemma," Nelson said. "We understand there are folks who would like to fish the river."

But, Nelson said, it's not like the northern pike leave the area, they are relocated to ponds at Loudy-Simpson Park and Yampa State Park and to Rio Blanco Reservoir.

The Recovery Project's goal isn't to remove all the pike from the Yampa, either, Nelson said. "Our goal is to determine what (pike population) level we need to maintain that will not prevent us from maintaining the endangered population."