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Show WASATCH MOUNTAIN TIMES Utah’s Native Trout Populations Threatened By Jeff Rice his may come as a surprise to most fishermen accustomed to the abundance of fish in Utah waters, but Utah’s native trout populations are severely threatened and are hanging in the balance. They haven’t been hit by some strange disease, like trout whirling disease that has struck in Montana. But are in danger from something called “rubber trout” syndrome. The proliferation of transplanted hatchery fish and species introduced by man has nearly devastated the populations of Utah trout that were here from the beginning, namely the Bonneville cutthroat and _ the Colorado River cutthroat. Since the late 19th century, intro- duced species have out competed native trout. As a result, as recently as the 1970s, the Bonneville cutthroat trout was thought to be extinct. Presently, all Bonneville and Colorado River cutthroats occupy less than 1 percent of their original range. Today it is possible to catch just about every kind of trout in Utah waters except a native. New management strategies by the state to preserve and expand native trout habitat may offer hope, as well as a recent influx of federal serve new populations. Matheson acknowledges that Utah’s love of non-native hatchery fish runs deep. “A great irony is that the state fish is the rainbow trout, which is really a transplanted exotic from the coast,” Matheson said. In fact, just about every fish that you are likely to catch in Utah will have come from some place else. The brown trout from Europe, the brook trout from the East Coast, yes, even most cutthroat. Generally, Utah waters are stocked with a variety of Yellowstone cutthroat transplanted from Wyoming. Here are the facts on Utah’s true state fish. There are basically only two kinds of trout native to Utah: the Bonneville cutthroat trout, Oncorynchus clarki utah, named for its origination in ancient Bonneville, and the Colorado cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus TM ya clarki pleuriticus, which nated origi- in ancient Colorado River Cutthroat Lake River ing on by a thread in tiny, isolated streams in remote parts of the state. The says Matheson, who River as cases, a John trader Biologists may have discovered a third subspecies in the Bear Lake drainage, but testing is yet incomplete. natives are hang- seems through reveals. is not to say that these trout populations didn't thrive at one time, Mea) hanging on by a thread in Ly adel-t- MS et remote parts of the state. drainages. In many cutthroat That journal from Townsend, who a passed upwards of thirty pounds. These fish would probably inches in length and of pound; quarters however, a much vation duced between as is seen.” natives well as Inland reason trout and rainbow Yellowstone led to a diluting base that allowed trout, cutthroats of the natives genetic to survive the sometimes harsh conditions of Utah waters. Non-natives have also habitat. the natives Another for food significant stream diversion, road building, ing, logging and grazing. @ the commitment to serve. Vote Hucu DANIELS FOR ParK City CouNCIL PAGE 13 fac- tor is human development, including The vision to lead, Paid for by the committee to elect Hugh Daniels for is intro- H UGH DANIELS co- 16 Hybridization have competed 19th or for the main native species and the larger one Trout,” of Utah out in 15 weigh threeoccasionally, Assessment Cutthroat decline century, Utah average According to a study by the US Department of Agriculture, “Conser- “In this little stream, the trout are more abundant than we have yet seen them,” he wrote. “One of the sober men took, this afternoon, money to try to help solve the problem. The State Division of Wildlife Resources has begun an extensive hatchery program for the fish and the federal government recently allocated just over $400,000 to apply to research and habitat protection. But there is still a long way to go, as people like Mike Matheson of the Native Utah Cutthroat Association, a private organization of volunteers, will tell you. “One of the biggest problems is that people just don’t know about these fish and what has happened to founded the organization five years ago with his brother, Mark. Since it began NUCA has been working with Wildlife Resources and other agen‘cies to try to increase awareness of native trout and to identify and pre- Colorado to be doing slightly better than the Bonneville, but neither is in great shape, biologists say. Both species are listed by the Forest Service as “sensitive species” and have been considered for upgrade to “threatened” status. Today it is possible to catch just about every kind of ee MM Orel ML Ue > Ca)ol Mateo them,” Trout and, min- |