TU supports harvest of browns

[popperfly]

What do you think of this.

Harvest of browns

[Uncle Jesse]

What do you think of this.

The browns’ presence apparently bothered some influential members of the Virginia Council, who organized the BroundUp to rid the stream of a perceived nuisance.

This statement taken directly from the article pretty tells the story, it's politics plain and simple. It's not about what's best for the stream or the public or what the public wants, but it's what "some influential members" want. I know TU has been a fine organization but this kind of "stuff" was the reason I did not join recently when they sent me another invitation.

[fishbum]

What do you think of this.

Two questions since you ask what I think.

1. Are the brook trout native?

2. Is it legal to kill the brown trout you catch? Or brook trout for that matter.

If the answer to #1 is "yes" then it is probably better for the stream and the native brook trout that the brown trout are caught and killed.

If the answer to #2 is "yes" then nobody has a gripe coming.

I don't have a dog in this fight but others should not be scorned for participating in a lawful activity

fishbum

[NJTroutbum]

I disagree 100%. If the browns had not proven to be self-sustainable and required continued stocking, then yes. But they do not. They've shown they are self-sustainable and the current fish are wild fish.

If legal to do so, then so-be-it.....same with the brookies. But that is not the goal here. The goal is for a handful of high-minded individuals pushing their preference.

Waters change.....and environments morph as time goes by. To insist that the ONLY environmental answer is to go back to colonial times is not always the best answer. In this day and age when water quality is so much in question...the strongest fish will prevail. Once they're naturally reproducing, removing them is no less a manipulation of the environment than the original stocking. IMO

[rainbowchaser]

As presented in this article the assault on the brown trout population would seem to be unwarranted but I would like more information before condemning it. Is the brown trout population expanding into the headwaters and threatening the native brookies? Once we have removed the natural balance of an eco-system we often have little choice but to continue making adjustments. Though I would prefer to see those decisions made by fisheries managers rather than an NGO like TU it is also true that sometimes fisheries mangers can get too focused on pounds of catchable fish and lose sight of other management goals.

[MrFishingToughGuy]

First, that stream is - well, was - historically a great place to get into large NATIVE brookies. Since the last few drought summers, the brookies have really taken a hit.

There are fewer and fewer places where native brook trout thrive, and more and more places where browns are establishing themselves. When these situations overlap in the same stream, the results usually favor the browns. If you want wild browns, fish your favorite east coast tailwaters. Leave the native char to finally reclaim some of their original range that we've decimated by mining, deforestation, development, other pollution and now piscivorous trout.

A no brainer.

[NJTroutbum]

And just to play devils advocate.......what happens when all efforts to save the native Brookie fails and a fishable water never produces itself? Then what? Leave the waters basically devoid of fish? When a wild browntrout population has already proven itself?

[MrFishingToughGuy]

I suggest - whether you're an advocate of the devil or not - you check out the EBTJV...the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture...which is also an urgent priority for TU. Why threaten a native trout population with invasives knowing what we know now? Asian carp can survive and thrive in warm water fisheries, so I guess we should just leave them alone, too.

[hardhat]

I have stated this before: TU is no Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. I no longer am a member and in most cases do not support them. My guess is that in the future they will become anti-fishing.
Throughout history, species of animals have become extinct. This was even the case before humans arrived. So with or without human involvement certain animals will not survive. The history of the world has shown this.

[NJTroutbum]

Point taken on the Carp. I guess I don't see the brown trout as an invasive.

Would it not be for the brown, there are countless trout waters across the country that would now hold nothing but Fall Fish and Creek Chubs. Not to mention that many of the waters being labelled as "Brook trout" waters were unable to hold fish much larger than 5" year-to-year long before the brown trout arrived. And long before the folks wanting ot change things were even fishing those waters. I think it's more on the lines of folks picking a favorite cause more than conservation efforts. But that's just my 2-cents.