Electrofishing, Snorkel Spearing, and Piscicide Eradicate Brook Trout From a Small, Isolated Bull Trout Population

Abstract

Abstract In 1992, a sampling crew from a multiagency group discovered a population of Bull Trout Salvelinus confluentus estimated at approximately 50 individuals in Threemile Creek, Oregon threatened with competition and hybridization with nonnative Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis. The group implemented Brook Trout and Bull Trout × Brook Trout hybrid removal using multiple techniques to conserve this population of Bull Trout in the Klamath River basin. From 1996 to 2000, backpack electrofishing and night snorkel spearing were used upstream of a culvert barrier to eradicate Brook Trout and hybrid trout from a 3.59-km section of Threemile Creek over 101 total days of effort (274 person-days of effort). Night snorkel spearing removed a lower percentage (7%) of target fish relative to electrofishing (93%), although this technique eliminated the risk of electrofishing injury to Bull Trout. Concurrent with the reduction and subsequent removal of Brook Trout, Bull Trout observations increased over 15-fold from 19 in 1996 to 299 in 2012 and Bull Trout distribution more than doubled, from 1.48 to 3.43 km during that same time. Immediately downstream in a separate 2.3-km section, the group eradicated Brook Trout using backpack electrofishing and rotenone application upstream of two man-made barriers from 2004 to 2010 over 43 total days of effort (150 person-days of effort). By 2016, Bull Trout had expanded their distribution throughout the upper 3.59-km section of Threemile Creek. Effort expended to eradicate Brook Trout was similar to successful eradication in other streams with comparable habitat characteristics and similar treatment length (< 3.0 km). However, similar removal attempts have not been successful in streams with comparable habitat characteristics that had longer treatment length (> 7.0 km). Application of piscicide may be more cost effective than manual techniques to remove Brook Trout when there is no risk to native fish of conservation concern, where target species are allopatric, and when piscicide use is publicly accepted. Brook Trout eradication proved valuable in providing Bull Trout the opportunity for range expansion and increased abundance necessary for recovery in the Klamath River basin.