Montana's State Fish, the westslope cutthroat trout has been in decline for decades thanks to lost habitat and hybridization, primarily with introduced rainbow trout. Here in southwest Montana biologists are determined to turn the decline on its ear, help to ensure its long term survival. Westslope cutts are the only native trout in the Missouri drainage. Beginning in 2001 thru 2013 FWP biologists and staff have worked on 21 streams. Typically the projects involve removing non-native fish, constructing a fish passage barrier at the bottom end and restocking with genetically pure WCTs. The projects have begun to reverse the downward trend within the region. Collectively the work has added 167 miles of occupied stream. In 2001 westslope cutts were present in only 4.2%, about 11,000 miles of stream, of its historic range; today they occupy about 5.7%. And with many more projects in the works that percentage should continue to grow.
No comments:
Post a Comment