Yellowstone Fisheries Aquatic Sciences

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Yellowstone Fisheries Aquatic Sciences Yellowstone Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences Annual Report 2008 Geode Creek, a tributary of the Yellowstone River, is home to an Amphibian surveys on Yellowstone’s Northern Range focused on the introduced population of genetically unaltered westslope cutthroat trout. Blacktail Deer and Elk creek drainages. ellowstone National Park is home to the most to their inability to compete with aggressive, non-native ecologically and economically important inland trout. In addition, in many park waters the infusion of non- Y cutthroat trout fisheries remaining in North America. native-trout genetic material into stream-resident cutthroat However, threats to these native trout have, over the past populations by interbreeding among species has occurred decade, irreversibly altered and made future sustainability of and cannot easily be reversed. The loss to the cutthroat this thriving and diverse ecosystem uncertain. Science has populations is permanent, and any recovery will be achieved helped to develop our understanding of the consequences only through direct intervention. The recent rainbow of status-quo management. In fact, without swift and trout invasion of the upper Slough Creek meadows, and continuing action, negative effects on the native trout the resulting loss of that world-renowned fishery’s genetic populations of Yellowstone—keystone energy sources for integrity, is an example of how serious this problem is. numerous mammal and bird species, and a recreational focus The stakes are high, raising the bar for innovative for visitors—have the potential to produce impacts that will management and fundraising. The increased magnitude of reverberate throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. the problems faced by the park’s fisheries, and the accelerated For instance, each predatory, non-native lake trout—a rate at which they are occurring, are straining Yellowstone’s species illegally introduced to Yellowstone Lake at least 20 resources. Despite this, our hope and enthusiasm remain years ago but not discovered until 1994—can annually high. Within Yellowstone Lake, cutthroat are showing consume at least 41 cutthroat trout each year. Lake subtle signs of recovery, while lake trout are showing signs of trout have the potential to decimate the Yellowstone suppression. Within the streams, momentum could not be Lake cutthroat trout population in our lifetime without greater as we continue our first cutthroat restoration project heightened and maintained management efforts. Lake and the replication of newly discovered, pure-strain westslope trout are not an acceptable substitute for cutthroat trout cutthroat trout populations. in the ecosystem because they occupy an ecological niche This annual report describes historic and continuing unavailable to cutthroat-eating predators, threatening the park aquatics programs with data and information obtained many species, such as grizzly bears, bald eagles, and river through 2008. In several instances, the report also outlines otters, which depend on cutthroat trout for survival. our vision for the program, with specific project goals and Albeit much more quietly, the brook, brown, and objectives for future years. This was done in an attempt to rainbow trout intentionally stocked by managers during the ensure program transparency; we want to make sure that park’s early history have also taken their toll on cutthroat everyone with an interest has a solid understanding of both trout populations across Yellowstone. The native westslope our intent and the direction our efforts are taking to preserve cutthroat trout of the Madison River, for example, a specialist and restore native fishes in the waters of this tremendous species requiring pristine habitats, have been eliminated due park. Yellowstone Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences Annual Report 2008 DA u ats i M M © Mi Yellowstone cutthroat trout Todd M. Koel, Jeffrey L. Arnold, Patricia E. Bigelow, Philip D. Doepke, Brian D. Ertel, and Michael E. Ruhl National Park Service Yellowstone Center for Resources Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming YCR-2010-03 Suggested citation: Koel, T. M., J. L. Arnold, P. E. Bigelow, P. D. Doepke, B. D. Ertel, and M. E. Ruhl. 2010. Yellowstone Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences: Annual Report, 2008. National Park Service, Yellowstone Center for Resources, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, YCR-2010-03. Title page art courtesy Mimi Matsuda. Front cover captions (left to right): Fisheries technician Brian Ertel with a spawning Yellowstone cutthroat trout at Clear Creek, a tributary to Yellowstone Lake (photo by Alexis Wolf). Fisheries technician Derek Rupert at the fish barrier on East Fork Specimen Creek (photo by Todd Koel). National Park Service fisheries technician Stuart Brown and Student Conservation Association volunteer Nick Bankston with record-sized lake trout caught from gillnets set on Yellowstone Lake (photo by Pat Bigelow). Back cover captions (left to right): Fisheries technician Becky Adams prepares to dock the gillnetting boat, NPS Hammerhead (photo by Todd Koel). Aquatic ecologist Jeff Arnold and crew sample water at High Lake (photo by Joseph Skorupski). Montana Conservation Corps crew assisted in building a fish barrier in East Fork Specimen Creek (photo by Todd Koel). Background: Moonlight on Yellowstone Lake (NPS photo by J. Schmidt, 1977). Opposite page: Fisheries technician Joe Skorupski samples Yellowstone Lake. Note: Native fishes shown out of water were not injured. Contents Background.................................................... 2 Aquatic.Ecology........................................... 23 Summary........................................................... 4 Core.Water.Quality.Parameters.................. 24 The.Fisheries.Program................................... 6 Chemical.Constituents.of.Surface.Waters... 25 Primary.Emphasis.Areas............................... 6 Regulatory.Monitoring.on.Soda.Butte.. Yellowstone.Cutthroat.Trout......................... 7 Creek.and.Reese.Creek........................ 26 Long-term.Monitoring................................. 7 Yellowstone.Lake.Limnology...................... 26 Preservation.of.Yellowstone.Lake. Macroinvertebrates.Surveys........................ 27 Cutthroat.Trout...................................... 7 Amphibian.Surveys.................................... 27 Lake.Trout.Suppression.Program................ 10 Trends.from.Volunteer.Angler.Reports....... 29 Lake.Trout.Control.Netting........................ 10 Angling.in.the.Park..................................... 29 Lake.Trout.Spawner.Removal..................... 11 Madison.River.Fishery.Survey.................... 30 Lake.Trout.Fecundity................................. 12 Seventh.Year.of.Fly.Fishing.Volunteers....... 33 Incidental.Catch.of.Cutthroat.Trout........... 12 Long-term.Volunteer.Assistance................. 33 Science.Panel.Review/Recommendations.... 12 Educational.Programs................................. 33 Stream.Resident.Cutthroat.Trout.and. Collaborative.Research............................... 33 Grayling.Conservation........................... 14 Public.Involvement...................................... 33 Westslope.Cutthroat.Trout.Source. Projects.by.Graduate.Students.................... 34 Populations.......................................... 14 Interagency.Workgroups............................. 34 High.Lake.Westslope.Cutthroat.Trout. Cutthroat.Trout.Broodstock.Development.34 Introduction........................................ 14 Acknowledgements...................................... 35 East.Fork.Specimen.Creek.Fish.Barrier....... 15 Literature.Cited.......................................... 36 East.Fork.Specimen.Creek.Piscicide. Appendices..................................................... 39 Treatment............................................ 17 i..Fish.Species.List...................................... 39 Potential.of.Returning.Arctic.Grayling.to. ii..The.Waters.of.Yellowstone...................... 39 Grayling.Creek.................................... 18 iii..Genetic.Analysis–Yellowstone.. Recent.and.On-going.Invasions.on.the. cutthroat.trout..................................... 40 Northern.Range................................... 18 iv..Genetic.Analysis–Westslope.. Soda.Butte.Creek.Brook.Trout.Removal..... 20 cutthroat.trout..................................... 41 Genetic.Analyses.of.Fluvial.Cutthroat. v..Seasonal.Staff.......................................... 42 Trout.Populations................................ 22 vi..Long-term.Volunteers............................ 42 Long-term.Water.Quality.Monitoring........ 23 Background YELL–34659 hen Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872, it was the Wonly wildland under active federal management. Early visitors fished and hunted for subsistence, as there were almost no visitor services. Fishes were viewed as resources to be used by sport anglers and provide park visitors with fresh meals. Fish-eating wildlife, such as bears, ospreys, otters, and pelicans, were regarded as a nuisance, and many were destroyed as a result (Varley and Schullery 1998). Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel bellmen display their catch To supplement fishing and counteract of brown trout next to a“Tally-Ho” stagecoach, circa 1910. “destructive” consumption by wildlife, a fish “planting” program was established. Early park superintendents noted the vast fishless waters of Largely because of these activities and the the park and asked the u.S. Fish Commission popularity of Yellowstone’s fisheries, recreational to “see that all waters are stocked so
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