The Wild Trout of Montana – Dependent on High-Quality Habitat (via )
I am really interested in the notion of examining our put and take policies as it relates to trout in our New Hampshire fisheries. It seems to me that both users of our resources and the trout would be better off, if we would concentrate on improving promising habitat and managing some of those as wild trout fisheries. None of our major systems are so managed.
Although ‘put and take’ does provide at times good fishing and it certainly sells fishing licenses, it is by nature a non-sustainable policy. If our hatcheries stop growing fish for some reason, if tax dollars run out for some reason, if politics puts on a new face and looks away from trout fishing–then flooey goes our trout fisheries. They would be nearly non-existent in a year.
This is a very disturbing thought to me.
How much better for the near future and the future generation to improve the habitat and move toward a self-sustaining trout population.
Organizations such as the ‘Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture’ is one such that argues the point for our native and wild brook trout. Put me down in the column that says that we need to look at this from the state level and start sooner rather than later.
Of Upland Birds, Setters and Trout 