Study shows trout numbers up on Batten Kill
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By PATRICK McARDLE Staff Writer - Published: July 20, 2008
ARLINGTON – Ongoing efforts to restore the trout population in the Batten Kill seem to be getting positive results, according to Cynthia Browning, the executive director of the Batten Kill Watershed Alliance.
Browning was on hand in West Arlington Thursday when members of the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department "shocked" sections of the Batten Kill to get a count of the trout population.
While she deferred any definitive comment on the results to Southern Vermont Fisheries Biologist Kenneth Cox, she said early indications are promising.
The Batten Kill has long been a favorite site for anglers looking to catch wild trout. After declines in the trout population of about 70 percent, however, the state declared about 20 miles of the river between Dufresne Pond and the New York border as "catch and release" only.
Groups like the alliance and Trout Unlimited have been working on projects to restore the trout population. Under the theory that the decline was due to the loss of suitable habitat especially for young trout because there was little cover, efforts began in 2006 to restore the kind of vegetation that provides cover.
Earlier this month, Cox said the state would be testing the fish population in the area around the newly created habitats to seek "confirmation of our hypothesis" that the change in habitat led to the decline in the trout population.
Similar testing was done last year. Cox said those results showed increases in the kinds of trout the state was hoping to see, specifically the young trout who will grow to be the kind of fish anglers seek. In one area, researchers found a 600 percent increase of young fish.
"If we see similar results over at least two years, that points to the base of a trend," Cox said.
The state plans to use the electro-shock method of testing the trout population for at least one more year, Cox said.
Browning, who is also Arlington's state representative, said the river shocking was carried out by state Fish & Wildlife employees in a canoe.
The low level current stuns the fish population but does not kill them, Browning said.
The fish are then collected in buckets, taken back to the shore and sorted according to size. After the fish are sedated, the Fish & Wildlife Department weighs and measures the trout to get an accurate estimate of the population.
Trout are not returned to the river until they recover from the sedation which prevents them from being counted twice in the census.
Browning said the state plans to conduct at least one more census this year, this time in an area removed from the habitats that have been created in West Arlington. The tests will not only provide information about how well the restoration projects are working but which habitats are attracting more trout.
The partners who are working on what's called the "Twin Rivers Habitat Restoration Project," which also includes the Green Mountain National Forest, the Orvis Company and National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, plan to extend their efforts a half a mile in September.
In 2006 and 2007, the project covered a quarter mile each year.
Browning said she was also encouraged by reports from local sportsmen including one who said he had caught a 23-inch trout and another who said he had caught 10 trout in one night.
Calls to Cox's office were not returned on Friday.
Contact Patrick McArdle at patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com.
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