My mom sent me a short newspaper reveiw from their local Seattle rag about a new book on trout:
An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World by Anders Halverson (2010, Yale University Press, 288 p.)
The article intrigued me, so I looked it up online. It will take a lot of anglers a major adjustment in thinking to absorb this one, but the author claims, in a nutshell, that the rainbow trout is a totally 'synthetic' fish that has been biologically engineered for many years and ultimately has ruined natural fisheries.
Here's a quote from the article:
"Over the decades, rainbows have been bred to grow faster, mature earlier, and breed at different times of the year. Culturists have tried to select for disease resistance, fecundity, and even such things as color (think lightening trout!), shape, and fighting ability (think tailwalkers!)."
Here's a couple reviews:
"A fascinating story of man's urge to cultivate and disseminate a beautiful coldwater fish-at times to the detriment of native species but also the joy of anglers who would not otherwise have the opportunity to catch a trout. A gripping blend of early American history, discussions on taxonomy, and questions of how best to preserve wildness and the indigenous in a world where the human relationship to Nature is complex and always changing."-James Prosek, author of Trout of the World (James Prosek )
"Anyone interested in life as metaphor will find here the fascinating historical story of how different people saw their highest ideals and aspirations through the lens of a single, uncommonly compelling fish. And like democracy-but with perhaps more success-they spread it around the world. This unusually well-written, interesting book deserves a place of honor for everyone who sees in trout more than ''just'' a fish."-Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean, Eye of the Albatross, and The View From Lazy Point (Carl Safina )
Personally I don't see the great harm in stocking them in man-made lakes, etc. And I plan to read the book to see what this guy has to say. But my knee-jerk reaction to what I have read so far is that this is another example of how human beings have manipulated nature, thinking it was a great idea, and then had it come back to haunt them later.
If nothing else the topic may provide from some interesting online and shoreline discussion....