Ohio's Native Brook Trout

Historically, Ohio was home to the Brook trout. Nineteenth century accounts had identified at least two streams with "speckled trout" in Geauga county. These appeared to have been the last remnants of the Salvelinus Fontinalis that inhabited many of the cold water tributaries of Lake Erie. By 1945, it was assumed that the native brookies were lost from Ohio for good. However, in the early seventies, Dr. Andrew White (John Carroll University) located two surviving populations in a pair of small spring creeks near Bass Lake. Careless residential development eradicated one of these delicate ecosystems in 1993 so that today, we are left with just one wild population.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) has coordinated an effort to help preserve this native Ohio fish. The objective of this project (#F3NM06) was "To identify and protect native brook trout streams and habitat in the Chagrin River Watershed…." An attempt to inventory all potential brook trout habitat in the Chagrin River Watershed has been undertaken with an eye towards increasing the native trout population. This effort has involved a variety of non-profit groups from northeast Ohio, including the Emerald Necklace Chapter of TU. Vince LaConte has written an article for the ODNR publication "Wild Ohio" including a discussion of the past history, current state-of-affairs, and prospects for future recovery. (See Wild Ohio" article now.) The article is approximately four years old at this point, so some of the material is slightly out of date. Initial results of the stocking program from 1997-2000 are mixed. The annual progress reports of project performance are now available by following the links above. This information has been provided courtesy of Mr. Vince LaConte of the ODNR, Division of Wildlife. Please note: I have attempted to include the text, verbatim, from these annual reports. Any misrepresentation of the facts is due to an inadvertent transcription error on my part, as TU EMERALD NECKLACE webmaster. 

http://www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife/Fishing/aquanotes-fishid/brooktrout.htm

http://www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife/Fishing/aquanotes-fishid/brntrout.htm

http://www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife/Fishing/aquanotes-fishid/rtrout.htm

http://www.sunnews.com/news/suburbs/east/trout.htmhttp://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Salvelinus_fontinalis.html

Project Performance Report

All Brook trout photos, courtesy of Vince LaConte, ODNR.