The US Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced they were declining to list the California Golden Trout as endangered, and while a denied ESA listing is often cause for anxiety among conservationists, in this case the news is better than it sounds.
For the last ten years — ever since Trout Unlimited filed a petition for listing the golden trout in 2001 — private groups like TU, CalTrout, the Federation of Fly Fishers, Orvis and others have worked with government agencies to remove threats to the California Golden Trout.
These threats include overgrazing, hybridization and competition from stocked trout and others. Many of these threats have been (or are in the process of being) eliminated.
We’re not taking the California Golden Trout’s future for granted; we’re in agreement with Trout Unlimited’s Howard Kern, who said (in an LA Times Article):
“If there were no collaborative recovery efforts underway, as was the case in 2001, we would be furious,” Kern said.
“However, we are pleased with all the collaborative activity surrounding this fish right now. If it stalls later, we will absolutely go after the federal government with another petition for listing.”
A collaborative approach to Golden Trout recovery is working, and while we’re not yet out of the woods, we’re seeing real progress.
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Peter Moyle is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and Associate Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, at UC Davis. He is author or co-author of more than 240 publications, including the definitive Inland Fishes of California (2002). He is co-author of the 2017 book, Floodplains: Processes and Management for Ecosystem Services. His research interests include conservation of aquatic species, habitats, and ecosystems, including salmon; ecology of fishes of the San Francisco Estuary; ecology of California stream fishes; impact of introduced aquatic organisms; and use of floodplains by fish.
Robert Lusardi is the California Trout/UC Davis Wild and Coldwater Fish Researcher focused on establishing the basis for long-term science specific to California Trout’s wild and coldwater fish initiatives. His work bridges the widening gap between academic science and applied conservation policy, ensuring that rapidly developing science informs conservation projects throughout California. Dr. Lusardi resides at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and works closely with Dr. Peter Moyle on numerous projects to help inform California Trout conservation policy. His recent research interests include Coho salmon on the Shasta River, the ecology of volcanic spring-fed rivers, inland trout conservation and management, and policy implications of trap and haul programs for anadromous fishes in California.
Patrick Samuel is the Conservation Program Coordinator for California Trout, a position he has held for almost two years, where he coordinates special research projects for California Trout, including the State of the Salmonids report. Prior to joining CalTrout, he worked with the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum, a non-profit that supports the eight federal regional fishery management councils around the country. Patrick got his start in fisheries as an undergraduate intern with NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division in Sacramento, and in his first field job as a crew member of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Wild and Heritage Trout Program.
2 Comments
Dear friends of the Golden Trout,
congratulations to your increasing success resulting from continuous efforts!
Here, in the Northgerman Lowland, we have no Golden Trout, but similar experience in improving devastated watercourses.
By this a golden trout might be the result as you can see by scrolling by the photos on http://osmerus.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/die-wernigeroder-goldforelle
Best wishes
Ludwig Tent
Thank you! It’s not over yet, but we’re making progress.