Brook Trout Survival

[ijsouth]

More on fish survival in this drought. I read a report of an interview with one of the park's biologists - it seems that, while adult trout are definitely suffering, the younger fish seem to be holding their own. Also, the fatality rates are still right in line with what a "normal" year would bring.

One thing to keep in mind...there really is no such thing as a "normal" year, only averages. Droughts and floods are part of the normal climate, and over time tend to average out. It's hard for us to watch, though...we want to help the fish, but unfortunately we can't. It does look like the worst of the heat/no rain is over, and of course there is still the very real possibility a decaying tropical system could move over the mountains.

[UTKFlyFisher]

I have to write a special topic paper in one of my wildlife and fisheries classes. This forum has pretty much made my decision. I will be writing about drought effects on wild trout populations. I will be lookin at it in depth, looking at many major scientific articles. Ill let everyone know what I find out.

[Gerry Romer]

Originally Posted by ijsouth

I read a report of an interview with one of the park's biologists - it seems that, while adult trout are definitely suffering, the younger fish seem to be holding their own. Also, the fatality rates are still right in line with what a "normal" year would bring.

That sounds a lot like a report I read yesterday. If so, it's important to point out that he was talking specifically about Brook Trout populations. There is a critical distinction here. While the upper elevation streams did, indeed, suffer from the lack of precipitation in certain parts of the park, they didn't suffer from the extreme heat that the lower elevation streams did. Consequently, the streams in the higher elevations likely did not heat up as critically and might have been better able to sustain greater populations throughout the drought.

The real pressure of the heat/drought problem was on the mid and lower elevation streams. If it was the same article, I believe he went on to say that they still had hundreds of miles of lower elevation streams that they hadn't gotten studies back on yet and that it would be a while below they could offer an opinion.

It should also be noted that the Brook Trout matures quite quickly(under three years, I think) and that a 7" Brook is considered a large adult fish.

Gerry