Our Mission: To Preserve, Protect, and Restore Pennsylvania's Cold Water Streams and their habitats.
The Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture presents an opportunity for anglers to help undo over 100 years of no management of the brook trout resource in the state
Commentary by Chaz Macdonald
For sure, we’re not in danger of losing our beloved native brook trout, but populations have been greatly reduced by lumbering, road building, development, pollution, mining and other environmental impacts. Money from Growing Greener, Adopt-a-Stream, and other sources will be available for projects to conserve, protect and restore native brook trout in their home range through, the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture.
Let’s define native trout. A native is a brook trout that is stream bred or lake-bred and lives its entire life in that stream or lake. A wild trout is any other species of trout that is stream bred and lives its entire life in a stream. These fish include brown trout and rainbow trout and, to a lesser extent, golden rainbow trout, of which there have been stream bred populations from time to time. It is important to make this distinction, because a large part of why brook trout inhabit such a low percentage of streams is a result of stocking of nonnative species of trout, which eventually forced brook trout into less desirable habitat.
Conservation of brook trout populations has seldom been the focus of projects for angler conservationists. In the broader conservation community, the focus has been on other trout populations. Both brown trout and rainbow trout have advocates almost to the exclusion of brook trout. The time is now to take a look at conservation activities and focus on this new effort.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission surveys say that “brook trout inhabit 607 sections of stream covering 1,730 miles of water in the Commonwealth.” Many of these streams are first-order headwater tributaries of much larger drainages that, in many cases, once held brook trout populations throughout the entire watershed.
Estimates vary as to how many miles of rivers and streams there are in Pennsylvania, but the range is from 83,000 to 86,000 miles. Current populations of brook trout inhabit only a tiny fraction of the water in which they once could be found. For instance, early colonists of Philadelphia would supplement their diet by catching brook trout, white perch, and shad in the Schuylkill River, just outside of the city. British soldiers had fly-fishing gear sent to their posts from England, while they were stationed in early Colonial cities, both before and during the Revolutionary War. Coincidently, there are still brook trout populations in the lower Schuylkill drainage, which produces both amazing numbers and the largest brook trout currently found in Pennsylvania.
The challenge for conservationists is to work with agencies involved in the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture, to identify waters that will respond best to restoration efforts, to protect the headwaters where good native brook trout populations still exist, and to enhance those populations -- not an easy task. Because this new program is being lead by Trout Unlimited, Sportsman’s Groups and TU Chapters must set aside different philosophies and do what is best for the species.
The first priority is to identify streams that have stream bred brook trout populations, but are also being stocked, and ask if those populations are being impacted by stocking hatchery brook trout and nonnative trout, such as browns and rainbows. Sportsmen’s groups can play a large role in providing information on stocking and by providing volunteers for projects. Trout Unlimited chapters would be wise to engage these clubs as an untapped resource in the effort. Such groups know about the streams they stock and may hold the key to restoration. By bringing these sportsmen onboard, chapters can vastly expand their volunteer base and the knowledge of local trout populations. Chapters may even accomplish the impossible -- a halt to stocking over good populations and over harvest of native brook trout. Many people forget that brook trout evolved in just about every stream environment in Pennsylvania, from tiny, jump-across headwater freestone streams, to our rivers, including some as large as Pine Creek in north central Pennsylvania, to every limestone stream in the state.
Sadly, there are few limestone streams in Pennsylvania that still hold native populations. Surprisingly, several are in the southeastern region. Brown trout have taken over and dominate in all of the other limestone streams that hold trout, except for the rainbow trout in Falling Spring Branch. We probably can’t change this without angering a large number of brown trout aficionados, but we can protect what we have and restore a few limestone streams that have no trout or remnant populations of brookies.
What should not be done is make the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture a brown trout or rainbow trout removal program. It isn’t meant to be this type of program and, at best, would not completely restore brook trout, anyway. But, for angler conservationists, brook trout can no longer play second fiddle to other species. Brook trout must be accepted as the prime focus of restoration efforts in many areas of the state because many waters will not support brown and rainbow trout.
Economic factors indicate trout fishing contributes much economic activity to the Commonwealth’s economy, and brook trout can play a role in improving these numbers. We, as volunteer conservationists, can be at the forefront of the effort. By starting work on identifying brook trout streams now and identifying project waters, chapters will be ahead of the game when the money to implement the goals of the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture becomes available.
-- For more information on the project visit, www.brookie.org and www.easternbrooktrout.org. and www.patrout.org/EBTJV.htm.
