Critical Habitat for Bull Trout

Critical Habitat for Bull Trout

 

For my very first blog post I would like to bring up the issue of the bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), a threatened species protected under the Endangered Species Act, and the loss of their habitat. This is a species that I have always wanted to pursue as a fly angler. It is known to be very aggressive and has very nice colors, which makes it such a sought after fish. We will first start with some background information on the species. The bull trout is a species of char which are in the salmon family.  Char is a species that relies greatly on cold water and are one of the most northerly distributed freshwater species. Other than cold water, bull trout require extremely stable stream channels, spawning gravel, diverse cover, and migration routes.

   [1]

The state of the bull trout is not stable. In many places where the species used to exist they do not anymore. For example, in California they are extinct and they also inhabit only one river system in Nevada. Oregon and Washington populations are in danger as well as some Idaho populations. The reason for decline in the species is due to a few things. The biggest issue is competition with exotic fish species and some hybridization with brook trout, which are partly to blame for the situation. This is not the only reason for the decline though. Another reason is because of irrigation and road blockages. This does not allow the fish to move up and downstream, which can be crucial to the species spawning techniques and survival. The last reason for the decline is due to overgrazing and logging in inappropriate locations. This is causing the cover and habitat of the fish to deteriorate. For example, overgrazing causes the buffer of the stream to be impacted, which then causes native plants that may help filter and cool the water to be destroyed. The issue with logging is sedimentation. The issue with sedimentation is it is entering the streams and are causing the species spawning gravel to be depleted. From what I have researched and found there are plans to help the species and prevent the issues above from happening in the future [2]

The reason I chose this topic is because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to revise its 2005 designation of critical habitat for the bull trout, and it is still an issue today.  “In total, the Service proposes to designate approximately 22,679 miles of streams and 533,426 acres of lakes and reservoirs in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana and Nevada as critical habitat for the wide-ranging fish. The proposal includes 985 miles of marine shoreline in Washington.” This will add 18,851 miles to the bull trout habitat, which is huge.  Protecting and restoring the bull trout habitat is not only for the recovery of the species, but is also to restore the water quality of rivers and lakes throughout their range. There are also recommendations for anglers. If anyone is to catch a bull trout, they must be released as soon as possible. It is illegal to deliberately fish for bull trout due to its decline in population. Also people are supposed to make sure that any activities initiated in habitat will not affect this species or its habitat.

I believe that this is a very large issue that they are facing. This fish species is very important to the northwestern states and is iconic in many cases. This species is a great identifying factor that you have a very clean, cold, and healthy stream. I hope this issue will resolve itself in the future and allow the population to increase and thrive.

Chandler Schloder

 

Citations: 

1] http://www.hcn.org/issues/47.10/a-bull-trout-reintroduction-in-oregon-proves-whats-possible/bulltrout6-jpg/image

2] https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3874/14880277578_15a508a978_b.jpg

3] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Mountain-Prairie Region. "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Revision of Critical Habitat for Bull Trout." Official Web Page of the U S Fish and Wildlife Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.

4] "Natural Resources Conservation Service." Threatened and Endangered Species Bull Trout Fact Sheet NRCS Montana. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.