Re: NANFA-- Spawning in high water/non-point

Bruce Stallsmith (fundulus_at_hotmail.com)
Sun, 27 May 2001 17:25:52 -0400

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>In a message dated 5/27/101 2:52:02 PM EST, fundulus_at_hotmail.com writes:
>
><< I would say you're lucky if brown trout have been eliminated. As an
>exotic
> species they rate right up there with largemouth bass for destructive
> capabilities! >>
>
> No no no. Not true at all. Brown trout have not done anything
>"destructive" to this fishery. If you are to look at the big picture,
>everything is exotic. I think its very sad how many salmonids are being
>misunderstood and rejected by people who are un-educated about them. In a
>system where an exotic animal is introduced and does not replace another
>organism in its ecological niche, and does not upset the balance, what
>difference does it make?
With a large, voracious, environmentally tolerant top predator like brown
trout you fundamentally alter the trophic web of a system. That's my big
bugaboo; such a predator directly or indirectly alters the abundance and
distribution both of prey, the prey's foods, and competitors for the same
foods. I know that makes me sound like a grim sucker (my father-in-law in NH
still wonders what's wrong with me on the subject of brown trout). On the
other hand, if we're just gonna keep expanding our population, degrading
habitat and generally making a mess of things we should give in to the
inevitable and put brown trout in all of the streams in cooler climates. Jah
knows that browns will survive!

--Bruce Stallsmith
Huntsville, AL "south of the trout line"

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