Re: NANFA-- Fw: Native fish availability

Christopher Scharpf (ichthos_at_charm.net)
Wed, 24 Jan 2001 11:51:09 -0400

>While you will probably get several generous offers of fish, I am curious
>as to what is driving this "re-stocking". Is this a private stream? Who
>determined that these species where native to that stream? How? If they are
>native why do they need to be "re-stocked"? If something caused them to die
>off or caused their populations to dwindle, has that problem/cause been
>removed? Also, is this being done by an organization or an individual?

You ask some excellent questions, Ty. Another question would be about the
species requested. Several of them (e.g., orangethroat darter, banded sculpin,
fantail darter) represent complexes of cryptic species, some of which are
undescribed. The orangethroat darter, for example, has been divided into 7 or so
different species. Therefore, what's an orangethroat darter in one drainage
systems and in one hobbyists's tanks will likely be different from the
orangethroat darter that's presumably being restocked. One has to be very
careful not to mix species.

Perhaps learning the particulars of Mr. Phillips' stream restoration efforts
will help answer some of these questions.

Chris Scharpf
Baltimore

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