Warmth and Fish

Warmth and Fish

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Regional Fisheries Manager at Idaho Fish and Game, Jim Fredericks, talked with me about the drought and warm water that is gripping the fisheries of the West. "There is no way to sugarcoat what we are seeing this here is streamflows that are 10 to 20% of what they should be this time of year and temperatures that are more like late August. We were seeing those back in late June. It is not going to be a good year for fish. One of the questions that other states are wrestling with is what can we do by way of regulations to try and mitigate that. In Idaho, we have been reluctant to implement special summertime drought related fishing regulations for a couple of reasons. One is that we have gone to great lengths to maintain and increase fishing opportunities so we don't want to take away fishing opportunity unless there's a real good reason to do that. Every state is different, I want to be clear about that. Each state has to figure out with their public and their resources, what is right for them. Another part is that fish don't feed very actively when they get stressed and warm. So the problem to some degree, limits itself. Fishing isn't as good so anglers aren't out fishing as much. That means a lot fewer fish are being handled. We ask anglers to use good sense. If they're out catching and releasing fish and the fish are clearly stressed and aren't releasing well, then cease fishing.
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