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Tuesday Oct 7, 2008

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Comments on: Fish Restoration Project Survives Scrutiny

By valley_dude on 07-22-08

I commented on the interlake article, an I’ll re-state it her as well:
Hmm… and after we planted mysis shrimp the salmon all came back in Flathead Lake… and of course we want to rid Flathead lake of lake trout as well since it’s so PC to have 100% native species only, yet we put a slot limit on the lake trout spawners. Fish and lame, they don’t serve the general public, they serve political influences and cave to those desires. I for one applaud Vic Workman’s fortitude to stand up to these influences and bring some common sense back to the situation. 100k a year would certainly help fund the warm water hatchery fiasco, another project that has failed to deliver and been poorly utilized at the expense of the public, and now the public will have to pay additional license fees to subsidize the hatchery… nice job guys.

By Backcountry Bill on 07-22-08

If we could magically get rid of mysis shrimp in Flathead Lake, I think we would agree it would be best. Putting mysis in the big lake was a mistake but there is no going back. Likewise, putting non-native trout in the mountain lakes was a mistake—they are a threat to the world’s best cutthroat fishery in the South Fork. The difference is, we CAN go back and fix the problem by getting rid of the non-native trout and putting back the natives. It’s too damn bad we have to do it with such heavy handed methods, but it’s for the best.

By valley_dude on 07-22-08

I’ll respectfully disagree with that statement backcountry… for whose best? The trout? People? Animals? Fishermen? Sometimes the cure is worse than the ailment. I’m glad your 100% sure we “CAN” “fix” the “problem” by this method, but I think if you put it to a public vote, people in general would not be in favor of this type of fish “management”. I’ll also disagree that we can fix the problem using this type of method. I believe just as the shrimp was a mistake so is this program, mother nature is a complex equation, and altering an ecosystem has many ramifications far beyond what people/biologists/fisheries managers in general are able to predict.

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