parts of streams) that hart good habi4~t
<br />and good u•out reproduction, and (3)
<br />as of 1984, on some of those sn-eants,
<br />the setting of especially restrictive an-
<br />gling rules, so as to provide for catch
<br />(not necessarily creeling) of more fish
<br />and larger" Etch. On other w-tld tCOn[
<br />streams, thf: Commission applied the
<br />less resrictive statewide trout fishing
<br />regulations. The statewide rules were
<br />adjusted (a raised size limit and length-
<br />ened season) in 1984 to accommodate
<br />and promote improved angling values.
<br />Results have been gratifiing (Figure
<br />1)..~t Fishing Creek, a n-otuitain lime-
<br />stone sa•eam, not only was stocking crf
<br />brook, brown and rainbow u-outhalted,
<br />but "trophy" fishing re}ntlations were
<br />applied: nvo fish per day, 14-inch mini-
<br />mum length, and artificial lures onh~.
<br />Trout abundance began increasing, and
<br />this has continued through the latest
<br />year sampled, 1991. In Cedar Run, a
<br />much less fertile non-limestone stream,
<br />where the u-ophv regulations were alai
<br />applied, trout abundance more than
<br />mainrtined itself after the halt to stoc•k-
<br />ing. At Honey Creek, glower-gradient,
<br />fertile limestone sn-eam, where state-
<br />wide (non-trophy] regulations nclud-
<br />ittg bait fishing apply, abundance also
<br />increased after stocking stopped. The
<br />rise w•~ts about as much percentage-wise
<br />as at Fishing Creek, fiat started from a
<br />lower pre-wild-trout-management base
<br />and did not reach the high absolute
<br />levels of thc• other nvo strrr:ams.
<br />But anglers don't fish fir biomass f~rr
<br />.rP. They fish for size of fish. In that
<br />regard, a graph of the biomass density
<br />(weight per unit of su•eam length) in
<br />the various size groups that exist in the
<br />Fishing (:reek brown u-out population
<br />depict, what the anglers have available
<br />to them (Fi},nu'e ~). By the summers crf
<br />1990 itnd 1991, there was much more
<br />fish mass available in all parts of the 10-
<br />to-finch (~5(~350 millimeter) range
<br />than in 1978 and 1982, I~efore stocking
<br />was halted and trophy regulations air
<br />plied. In Fishing (:reek, notonly did the
<br />numbers of ovt:r-l2-inch fish more than
<br />double, hot greatly increased numbers
<br />ofsmall trout indicated more successful
<br />reproduction (Figtn•e ti).
<br />Pennsylv.utia's su-eant-tailored wild
<br />trout management is producing more
<br />trout and larger trout without the high
<br />cost of stocking. ~~17rat more could the
<br />angler vvan[% `ti'hat more could the eccr
<br />nomics-conscious manager, adminisu'a-
<br />tor, governor, legislator or citizen want?
<br />In the last 1~ to 20 years, manage-
<br />ment geared toward wild fish has in-
<br />creased in much of the United States, as
<br />public and professional ecological lit-
<br />eracy has exploded. Many states are
<br />increasingly selective about u-here they
<br />stock [ish and are establishing non-stock-
<br />ing policies for certain kinds of waters.
<br />Among these, besides Pennsybania, are
<br />Nevv York, Alarylancl, North Carolina,
<br />Michigan, Wisconsin, and most states
<br />west of the ]Mississippi that have su~-
<br />stantial salmonid resources.
<br />For example, Michigan's trout stock-
<br />ing policy has long tttkc•n into account
<br />the capability ofstreams to support natu-
<br />ral reproduction, and state biologists
<br />propose new fishing regulations in 1993.
<br />The proposals continue the trend of
<br />official recognition that anglers gener-
<br />alh•prefer tocatch large fish and keep a
<br />few of them, rather than take home lots
<br />of little ones.
<br />1Nisconsin has done the same in a
<br />more complex scheme, by which stock-
<br />ingand fishing regulations are fitted to
<br />streams that are classified according to
<br />capacities to produce. trout of different
<br />species and sizes. So that anglers can
<br />catch more fish and bigger fish, ~1'is-
<br />consin regulations now often embody
<br />relatively high size limits and love creel
<br />limits (and long seasons) that would
<br />have been unthinkable 30
<br />years ago, h1 addition, its
<br />policy of restoring habitat by
<br />streamside land acquisition,
<br />fencing, and judicious physi-
<br />calimprovements has turned
<br />hunch-eds of once over- war
<br />grazed, mud-banked, silt-bot-
<br />tomed streams~ften hardh
<br />worth fishing-into superb,
<br />lushly vegetated produces of
<br />self-sustaining wild trout I know this
<br />from biologists' data and from personal,
<br />on-site experience.
<br />Montana increasingly fought to pro-
<br />sect its streams from damming, mining,
<br />grazing and other habitat abuse in the
<br />1960s and 1970x. So as to best. use this
<br />valued resource, it has long adapted its
<br />trout fishing regtdatirms to regional and
<br />individual characteristics of streams, in
<br />addition to haying an all-stream rwn-
<br />stocking policy since 1976.
<br />In Canada, the wild a"out principles
<br />of Alberta, Ontario and British Colum-
<br />bia are well knower anti may indicate
<br />similar advances in other provinces.
<br />TOWARD TRUE MANAGEMENT
<br />In the face of traditions to the con-
<br />trary after human nature in general,
<br />putting wild fish policies and other eco-
<br />logical fishery management into action
<br />hasn't happened overnight. It's still hap-
<br />pening slowly. But the last. two or three
<br />decades have shown accelerating
<br />progress. Often, as Robert Behnke has
<br />pointed out, the advances in salmonid
<br />fishery management have been
<br />conceived and initiated by anglers and
<br />lovver~chelotr biologists, not by admini-
<br />strators, Sometimes progressive action
<br />doesn't occur until crisis convinces
<br />people of the need-by which time it
<br />may be, of course, almost too late and
<br />more a matter of'salvage and catch-up
<br />than advance. One of the crisis-recogni-
<br />tion mechanisms h<ts been the Endan-
<br />geredSpeciesAct (F.SA).It'salast{litch
<br />alarm that things are badly amiss, and it
<br />is proving useful in halting natural re-
<br />source abuse. But foresight and pro-
<br />action remain far preferable to hung
<br />on the cliff-edge of the law.
<br />Increased awareness of the need to
<br />get away from hatchery-driven fishery
<br />programs and adopt ecological man-
<br />agement is embodied in many official
<br />efforts now underway. Besides the wild
<br />We need to involve people in the joys of fishing
<br />for wild trout, salmon and grnyling in natural
<br />ers. People inherently treasure natural
<br />beouty and have a sense of owe at Nature.
<br />salmonid habitat protection and recto-
<br />ration policies and programs of state
<br />and federal agencies in the ~'nited
<br />States, there arc such Canadian ef~torts
<br />as a "Green Program" for restoring pro-
<br />ductivity of fire Fraser Kiver in British
<br />Columbia and a distinct watershed ori-
<br />entation to various prom ams in Ontario.
<br />We ^eed to be ecologically smart in
<br />management But this alone won't get
<br />tts desired abundances of fish or pre-
<br />sent extinctions. Also essential is politi-
<br />ALiTtibi\ 1941 'PROUT
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