05-01-2013, 01:43 PM
[quote doggonefishin]
"Right now, the only source for those fish is from those tiny streams around Pilot Peak."
Actually, the Pilot/Pyramid fish are readily available and as I tried to explain to N-A-P, they are in no immediate danger of extinction. The National fish hatchery stocks 300,000-400,000 fish annually to multiple lakes. 780,000 have been put into Pyramid lake alone the past few years. The lakes they stock also are monitored for genetic purity and Pyramid lake hasn't had available natural reproduction since the late 30's, due to a river diversion. The below link explains a great deal more and is quite interesting.
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My point was that Utah has no source for those fish....sure they could go to Nevada and try to work out some kind of deal to get some of those Nevada fish, BUT 1) there is a strong likelihood that Nevada--even though Nevada raises 300-400,000 fish each year--has enough fish to give away. The reality is that that area--Truckee River, Pyramid Lake, Walker Lake, and Lake Tahoe among others--contains a lot of water and requires a lot of fish being stocked to maintain. What makes you think that the National Fish Hatchery has excess fish? And, 2), if Nevada does have excess fish, are they going to have enough fish for it to be worthwhile to even stock them? Many of our reservoirs would require probably over 100,000 fish a year to establish any kind of population. Also, 3), again, I don't believe Utah wants to commit any resources towards establishing lahontans in Utah or, as you suggest, going out of state to buy them. As far as cutthroat go, Utah is committed to using its resources on native fishes. The reality is that if Utah were to get serious about lahontans, they would be looking into establishing a program in Utah where lahontans could be raised and would not have to be purchased....and that ain't gonna happen anytime soon!
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"Right now, the only source for those fish is from those tiny streams around Pilot Peak."
Actually, the Pilot/Pyramid fish are readily available and as I tried to explain to N-A-P, they are in no immediate danger of extinction. The National fish hatchery stocks 300,000-400,000 fish annually to multiple lakes. 780,000 have been put into Pyramid lake alone the past few years. The lakes they stock also are monitored for genetic purity and Pyramid lake hasn't had available natural reproduction since the late 30's, due to a river diversion. The below link explains a great deal more and is quite interesting.
[/quote]
My point was that Utah has no source for those fish....sure they could go to Nevada and try to work out some kind of deal to get some of those Nevada fish, BUT 1) there is a strong likelihood that Nevada--even though Nevada raises 300-400,000 fish each year--has enough fish to give away. The reality is that that area--Truckee River, Pyramid Lake, Walker Lake, and Lake Tahoe among others--contains a lot of water and requires a lot of fish being stocked to maintain. What makes you think that the National Fish Hatchery has excess fish? And, 2), if Nevada does have excess fish, are they going to have enough fish for it to be worthwhile to even stock them? Many of our reservoirs would require probably over 100,000 fish a year to establish any kind of population. Also, 3), again, I don't believe Utah wants to commit any resources towards establishing lahontans in Utah or, as you suggest, going out of state to buy them. As far as cutthroat go, Utah is committed to using its resources on native fishes. The reality is that if Utah were to get serious about lahontans, they would be looking into establishing a program in Utah where lahontans could be raised and would not have to be purchased....and that ain't gonna happen anytime soon!
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