Lahontan Cutthroat Trout in the Upper Truckee River: Restoration of a Threatened Species in a Fluvial Headwater Environment
Project Area N Expansion Area 2008 -2011: beginning of manual removal of brook trout in additional 10 miles stream Future - 2023: continue implementation in streams and begin removal of brook trout in 85 acres of lake Meiss Meadows 1988-1990: rotenone to remove brook trout early 1990s: LCT re-introduced & brook trout found mid 1990s: manual removal of brook trout in upper 5 miles stream & 8 acres lake 2007-2009: no brook trout found, resting treatment one of the only high meadow LCT populations in Sierra Nevada
Project Area Expansion Area Meiss Meadows
Manual Removal Methods • Late August thru October • Delineated reaches by natural barriers (low water barriers, falls, and beaver dams) • 3-pass depletion, on varying reach lenght • Species identified and measured to size class • Brook and Rainbow trout sacrificed • Speckled dace returned to upstream reach • LCT returned upstream of Barrier T1BA4 in RL trib and 36B in UTR; sacrificed below due to hybridization threats
3 Pass Depletion Depletion B37-B36A (307 m) 30 LCT BKT 20 # of fish SPD 10 0 1 2 3 Pass Depletion B34-B33 (254 m) 40 LCT # of fish 30 BKT RBT 20 10 0 1 2 3 Pass
Meiss Meadows
LCT in Meiss Meadows 1996-2009 Upper Truckee River 1996 - 2009 2000 NUMBER OF FISH OBSERVED 1500 Adult 1000 Juveniles 500 0 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 YEAR
Brook Trout Catch in Meiss Meadows 1996-2009 300 250 Frequency 200 150 100 50 0 5 . 5 1 . 5 2 . 5 3 . 5 4 . 5 5 . 5 6 . 5 1997 7 2000 . 5 2003 8 2006 . 5 2009 9 . 5 0 . 1 1 1 Total Length (Inches)
Expansion Area
Accomplishment Summary • 2008 • 0.8 miles treated • 3 passes completed • 230 brook trout removed • 213 speckled dace sampled • 194 LCT sampled • 2009 • 1.1 miles treated • 2-3 passes completed • 100 brook trout removed • 353 speckled dace sampled • 369 LCT sampled • 2010 • 5.8 miles treated Round Lake • 1-3 pass completed • 9,252 brook trout removed • 82 rainbow trout removed • 211 speckled dace sampled • 509 LCT sampled
2011 • 3.6 miles treated • 1-3 passes completed • 729 brook trout removed • 27 rainbow trout removed • 337 speckled dace sampled • 820 LCT sampled – 734 returned upstream of T1BA4 and 36B – 86 removed below T1BA4 and 36B Hybrids sampled in 2010 Round Lake Round Lake (thanks USFWS & M. Peacock!)
Upper Truckee River 140 N 120 100 80 # of fish 60 40 20 Species 0 Rainbow trout 0-5cm 5-10cm 10-15cm 15-20cm 20-25cm 25-30cm 30+cm LCT 22 116 84 85 37 3 0 LCT BKT 39 68 96 83 18 2 0 Speckled dace SPD 123 5 1 0 0 0 0 Brook trout RBT 0 7 3 6 0 1 0
Round Lake tributary • LCT had last been planted in Round Lake in 2008 • CDFG surveyed Round Lake in summer 2010, and found only LCT and dace 200 N 180 160 140 # of fish 120 100 80 60 Species 40 Rainbow trout 20 LCT 0 10- 15- 20- 25- Round Lake 0-5cm 5-10cm 30+cm 15cm 20cm 25cm 30cm Speckled dace LCT 52 196 153 54 0 0 12 BKT 29 86 162 122 24 0 0 Brook trout SPD 162 46 0 0 0 0 0 RBT 0 9 1 0 0 0 0
2011: TOTAL FISH = 1,193 2011 UTR mainstem 2011 Round Lake tributary LCT BKT LCT SPD BKT RBT SPD RBT 2010 Round Lake tributary brook trout Lahontan cutthroat trout rainbow trout speckled dace
Progress Reach B41-B41A = the most upstream reach in the Expansion Area Brook Trout B41-B41A 10 9 2008 8 2009 7 6 2010 5 4 2011 3 2 1 0 LCT BKT B41-B41A 35 2008 30 2009 25 2010 20 2011 15 10 5 0
UTR Fish Assessment • CTC, CalTrout, CDFG, UC Davis, City SLT Late July and August • • Survey mouth to headwaters of perennial streams (where possible) • 1 pass electro-shocking • 100 meter reaches where possible • Record species and size class
UTR Fish Assessment Species Total bluegill 44 brook trout 6 brown bullhead 9 bluegill brown bullhead brown trout 1954 brown trout Lahontan cutthroat trout 2 Lahontan redside shiner mountain sucker Lahontan redside shiner 108 Paiute sculpin mountain sucker 119 rainbow trout mountain whitefish 12 speckled dace Tahoe sucker Paiute sculpin 1613 rainbow trout 971 speckled dace 7528 Tahoe sucker 118 unknown sucker 37
UTR Fish Assessment
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