Re: NANFA-- Spawning in high water/non-point

Ty (tyhall_at_mia.net)
Tue, 29 May 2001 07:49:39 -0500

NATURNUT_at_aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 5/27/101 5:10:18 PM EST, fundulus_at_hotmail.com writes:
>
> << I'll leave it at saying brown trout would not have to reduce any
> population
> to "concern" levels to have a negative impact; I refer to changing local
> abundance of usually obscure animals such as aquatic insect forms, which can
> have indirect effects on other species down to the phytoplankton level. Some
> research has been done on these types of effects. One EPA group studied the
> presence/absence of various minnow species in northern New England lakes, in
> which some of these lakes have had bass introduced, some have had pike
> introduced, some have had both introduced and some were spared such
> introductions. The lakes without such introductions had more minnow species.
> That's not brown trout in Michigan, but I'd bet half a peach that you could
> find similar effects with aquatic arthropods. Not a glamorous group to most
> people, but... >>
>
> Well we would be talking very obscure changes that would occur with any
> organism in any ecosystem anywhere. Slightly changes in arthropodan
> populations are natural in many systems naturally, and things have a way of
> balancing out. Thats the way a natural system works, and I still beleive
> brown trout are not a problem in any way, shape, or form. Don't get me wrong
> on one thing, though. Other introduced (or exotic) fish that are more
> predacious, environmentally tolerant, ect do pose a threat. Brown trout, in
> their nature, cannot pose such a threat. Long live browns...
> ___Dan McConnell Marshall, MI

I haven't been following this thread very closely, but after reading this I have
to reply. This is BS! Anytime you introduce a new predetor into an established
ecosystem you are affecting that system. Just because you "love" Trout that should
not make you blind to what they are, predators. They eat other living things. In a
pure native system, where trout do not naturally occur, everything is in balance.
If you add Trout, something has to change. Either other predators are displaced or
prey species diminish. You simply can't have 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bucket
no matter how you cram it in there. Trout are great but that does not mean that
you can simply dump them in any stream in the world and claim they will not affect
anything. They have the same effect on a system as do Bass, Pike or any other
predator.

Ty

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