Green Butted Skunk
Stockie
If we are already doing this type of program in PA, does anyone else agree we should be thinking about the WB Strain of fish? How about a joint venture between NY & PA to help build and implement such a WB Hatchery. Then in case the water was kept back, Acid rain,oil spill etc, etc, we got the fish and 2-4 yrs later we got our fishery back. The fish is still wild...the fish is still a WB Native Strain, just born in a test tube.
GBS
FINGERLING PROGRAM
While the Fish and Boat Commission's put-and-take trout-stocking program is well known even outside Pennsylvania, its fingerling trout- stocking program is done more quietly. While fingerling trout have been stocked for nearly as long as the Fish Commission has existed, the current program has only been in place for about two decades and stocking figures are not widely publicized. These trout are not yet large enough to be creeled when they are stocked. As a result, fishing pressure tends to be lower and is spread out more through the season.
The fingerling trout program, also known as "put-grow-and-take," has yielded some of the finest trout fisheries in the state, including the Little Juniata River and the section of the Allegheny River extending for several miles below the Kinzua Dam. Other success stories include the Allegheny Reservoir, the Youghiogheny River, Bald Eagle Creek and Tulpehocken Creek below Blue Marsh Dam.
Fingerling trout have also been used to restore trout populations in streams that are recovering from pollution. One example is the Schuylkill River from Middleport downstream to State Game Lands 286 near Schuylkill Haven, where fingerling brook trout have been stocked for a couple of years, and downriver, where fingerling browns have been stocked.
Fingerlings are generally put into streams that are so large that the return rates in put-and-take trout are low. The main requirement is that they are suitable to hold trout year 'round. Most fingerling trout that are planned for stocking are either browns or rainbows, because most of the waters in this program are too large and too warm to support brook trout.
When surplus brook trout fingerlings are available, which often happens, they are generally stocked into the Allegheny Reservoir, East Branch Clarion River Lake, Keystone Lake and Beaverdam Run Reservoir. Success rates are low, however, for this species.
Last year, area fisheries managers requested 723,700 brown trout fingerlings and 284,600 rainbow trout fingerlings. With the addition of the excess brook trout fingerlings, the total of fingerlings stocked amounted to about 1,833,000 trout last year.
This year, area fisheries managers have requested 1,093,100 fingerlings. This breaks down to 2,500 brook trout, 764,850 brown trout and 325,750 rainbow trout. The brook trout requested will be stocked into Big Spring Creek.
Premium fingerlings, trout that are about 6 inches in length, are stocked during fall. Surplus fingerlings are stocked during spring, when they are 2 to 4 inches in length. Survival rates for spring fingerlings are not nearly as good as for fall fingerlings.
Stocking fingerling trout is much less expensive than stocking legal- size trout. Rather than being fed in hatcheries, nature takes care of feeding them. In fertile waters like the Allegheny River, growth rates are excellent. Anglers frequently catch trout in the 4- to 8-pound range here. Growth rates are much slower in less fertile waters such as the Youghiogheny River, but it is still more cost effective to stock fingerlings than to stock larger trout.
"Sometimes we don't know the numbers until we see how many fish we have on hand," Tredinnick explained.
Often, many more trout are stocked than was originally planned because trout are stocked on an availability basis. Many of the fingerlings are excess trout, and those numbers cannot be anticipated.
Cooperative nurseries generally are the first priority for these fish. If conditions are poor at the co-op nurseries causing loss of fish, they are re-supplied with fingerlings. If water conditions in the co-op nurseries are good, as they were last year, there are excess fingerlings available.
In some cases, excess trout fingerlings are stocked into marginal waters rather than let them go to waste. Typically, 250,000 to more than 500,000 excess fingerlings become available.
"There's a lot of leeway there," Greene said. "Many fish are shipped in April before we have too many fish in the hatcheries taking up space, and a good portion of those are brook trout."
Snyder expects that the successful fingerling-stocking program will continue to expand.
http://www.pagameandfish.com/fishing/trout-fishing/pa_aa034304a/index1.html
GBS
GBS
FINGERLING PROGRAM
While the Fish and Boat Commission's put-and-take trout-stocking program is well known even outside Pennsylvania, its fingerling trout- stocking program is done more quietly. While fingerling trout have been stocked for nearly as long as the Fish Commission has existed, the current program has only been in place for about two decades and stocking figures are not widely publicized. These trout are not yet large enough to be creeled when they are stocked. As a result, fishing pressure tends to be lower and is spread out more through the season.
The fingerling trout program, also known as "put-grow-and-take," has yielded some of the finest trout fisheries in the state, including the Little Juniata River and the section of the Allegheny River extending for several miles below the Kinzua Dam. Other success stories include the Allegheny Reservoir, the Youghiogheny River, Bald Eagle Creek and Tulpehocken Creek below Blue Marsh Dam.
Fingerling trout have also been used to restore trout populations in streams that are recovering from pollution. One example is the Schuylkill River from Middleport downstream to State Game Lands 286 near Schuylkill Haven, where fingerling brook trout have been stocked for a couple of years, and downriver, where fingerling browns have been stocked.
Fingerlings are generally put into streams that are so large that the return rates in put-and-take trout are low. The main requirement is that they are suitable to hold trout year 'round. Most fingerling trout that are planned for stocking are either browns or rainbows, because most of the waters in this program are too large and too warm to support brook trout.
When surplus brook trout fingerlings are available, which often happens, they are generally stocked into the Allegheny Reservoir, East Branch Clarion River Lake, Keystone Lake and Beaverdam Run Reservoir. Success rates are low, however, for this species.
Last year, area fisheries managers requested 723,700 brown trout fingerlings and 284,600 rainbow trout fingerlings. With the addition of the excess brook trout fingerlings, the total of fingerlings stocked amounted to about 1,833,000 trout last year.
This year, area fisheries managers have requested 1,093,100 fingerlings. This breaks down to 2,500 brook trout, 764,850 brown trout and 325,750 rainbow trout. The brook trout requested will be stocked into Big Spring Creek.
Premium fingerlings, trout that are about 6 inches in length, are stocked during fall. Surplus fingerlings are stocked during spring, when they are 2 to 4 inches in length. Survival rates for spring fingerlings are not nearly as good as for fall fingerlings.
Stocking fingerling trout is much less expensive than stocking legal- size trout. Rather than being fed in hatcheries, nature takes care of feeding them. In fertile waters like the Allegheny River, growth rates are excellent. Anglers frequently catch trout in the 4- to 8-pound range here. Growth rates are much slower in less fertile waters such as the Youghiogheny River, but it is still more cost effective to stock fingerlings than to stock larger trout.
"Sometimes we don't know the numbers until we see how many fish we have on hand," Tredinnick explained.
Often, many more trout are stocked than was originally planned because trout are stocked on an availability basis. Many of the fingerlings are excess trout, and those numbers cannot be anticipated.
Cooperative nurseries generally are the first priority for these fish. If conditions are poor at the co-op nurseries causing loss of fish, they are re-supplied with fingerlings. If water conditions in the co-op nurseries are good, as they were last year, there are excess fingerlings available.
In some cases, excess trout fingerlings are stocked into marginal waters rather than let them go to waste. Typically, 250,000 to more than 500,000 excess fingerlings become available.
"There's a lot of leeway there," Greene said. "Many fish are shipped in April before we have too many fish in the hatcheries taking up space, and a good portion of those are brook trout."
Snyder expects that the successful fingerling-stocking program will continue to expand.
http://www.pagameandfish.com/fishing/trout-fishing/pa_aa034304a/index1.html
GBS
