Petition for trout plants at lower lagoon.

[hombre_jaguar]

Just came across this on another site. It's a petition to plant trout in the lower lagoon of Castaic Lake. Apparently they used to. I never went when they did, but I would go now. It'll save me a drive to San Bernardino at times.

Feel free to move it if it's in the wrong category.

Thanks,

https://www.change.org/p/steve-knight-return-rainbow-trout-plants-to-the-castaic-lagoon

[kwin]

The lagoon most likely isn't going to get stocked again. Fish the upper lake for trout, it might be the size of the lagoon shortly anyway.

[fshnritchey]

kwin is correct that the lagoon will probably not get stocked again. It has nothing to do with the amount of signatures on a petition, it has to do with whether or not they can get a ruling turned over that the stockings will affect a native population of trout using the santa clara river and its tributaries. The native trout are there but they have been stocking area waters for decades now so what damage could be done has been done.

[seal]

But I thought the creation of triploid only trout would resolve these concerns? How are they going to crossbreed if they are sterile?

[HawgZWylde]

kwin is correct that the lagoon will probably not get stocked again. It has nothing to do with the amount of signatures on a petition, it has to do with whether or not they can get a ruling turned over that the stockings will affect a native population of trout using the santa clara river and its tributaries. The native trout are there but they have been stocking area waters for decades now so what damage could be done has been done.

Dittos for lake Skinner. They are afraid that a 100 year flood would spill those nasty Rainbow Trout into the river that would then hurt the genetically identical Steelheads...

[kwin]

Sorry Hawgz but they are genetically distinct. DNA don't lie. However, We've been working on getting Skinner stocked again in the future. There are different criteria in place at Skinner vs the lagoon that make it far less likely for fish to be flushed downstream to compete with, breed or interact negatively with the Federally (and State) protected southern steelhead.. I'm not making promises, but I hope trout stocking can be resumed at Skinner at some point.

[HawgZWylde]

Sorry Hawgz but they are genetically distinct. DNA don't lie. However, We've been working on getting Skinner stocked again in the future. There are different criteria in place at Skinner vs the lagoon that make it far less likely for fish to be flushed downstream to compete with, breed or interact negatively with the Federally (and State) protected southern steelhead.. I'm not making promises, but I hope trout stocking can be resumed at Skinner at some point.

Well, I'm certainly not qualified to debate with our fisheries biologist re: genetics but as a lifelong freshwater angler I've always had a vested interest in our fisheries and everything I've read the claim is they are genetically the same. Can you point me to some studies that show otherwise so I can be as informed as possible on said topic? Thanks.

As for stocking Bows in our local lowland warm water reservoirs, I just hate to see Cali lose it's status as the worlds premier lunker LMB capitol, lol...

[Fish with a Lance]

What River. It's gone is it not?

[kwin]

https://swfsc.noaa.gov/publications/CR/2006/2006Girman.pdf


My quick scanning of this study resulted in...

"Finally, several analyses indicate that trout populations breeding in streams above
dam reservoirs and those breeding below dams have not been heavily introgressed by
planted trout from Fillmore Hatchery or any other hatchery stock that is derived from out
of basin broodstock. This does not mean that there has been no influence of hatchery
plants on any of the populations surveyed here, or that their will not be in the future, but
only that the vast majority of fish sampled for this study are not directly descended from
hatchery raised fish or their recent progeny."

[JAG107]

Thanks for you input, Kwin. I have a question though: Couldn't browns be stocked in the lagoon (or Skinner, for that matter) instead? I'm no biologist, but I don't think I've heard of browns being able to interbreed with bows. Also, IIRC Skinner had been planting only Mt. Lassen "Sierra Bows", which I believe are triploids, and like Seal said, how can they possibly potentially interbreed with some downstream steelhead?

[HBAR]

Dont ya know the tree huggin fool from the other state that filed this which investigation has never been done, seems to think that the trout are gonna escape out of the lagoon, grow their "landlegs" once they make it under the other side of the bridge, WALK all the way to Malibu or wherever the steelhead are at and turn that into a brothel?!!! (can you hear the sarcasm?). Either way the Lagoon is where my dad took me fishing when I was a kid, countless trout, bass, bluegill had been caught there by us, and it's where I took my daughter fishing when she was little, would I like to take my granddaughter (now that I'm a grandpa) there fishing when she gets old enough, of course I would.
The more people we can get to sign the petition the more "ammo" we'll have in getting them to start stocking the lagoon again.

[Tom]

kwin is correct that the lagoon will probably not get stocked again. It has nothing to do with the amount of signatures on a petition, it has to do with whether or not they can get a ruling turned over that the stockings will affect a native population of trout using the santa clara river and its tributaries. The native trout are there but they have been stocking area waters for decades now so what damage could be done has been done.

We need open season On tree huggers

[cutbait]

I'd sign the petition as long as Pyramid doesn't continue to get its unjust over stockage

[DarkShadow]

...which I believe are triploids, and like Seal said, how can they possibly potentially interbreed with some downstream steelhead?

Excellent question.

I'm on the edge of my seat ready for a response.

(Another question is, what is being done to protect these steelhead in those tributaries, aside from making fishing illegal in those areas. I believe the biggest determinant of preventing those Steelhead from breeding are dams, and the destruction of natural habitat, and we aren't knocking down them down any time soon nor rebuilding these natural habitats, so why the fuss on the interbreeding, if major obstacles and issues are not being brought to the table?)