FISHING COMMITTEE
Petition to Modify Baitfish Rule
In late March, the VTFWCG petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Board to modify Vermont's current baitfish rule. The proposed change would allow wild baitfish harvested from the Lake Memphremagog watershed to be used throughout the watershed.
Read the full petition...
Genetic Analysis of Pherrins River Brook Trout Completed
In August, 2007 the VTFWCG, with help from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, collected tissue samples from 79 brook trout from the Pherrins River. These samples, as well as samples of our hatchery fish and samples from the Department's broodstock at Salisbury, were sent to UVM for genetic analysis and comparison.
Primary findings:
1. Brook trout sampled from the Pherrins River are not hatchery fish, at least not from the current strain.
2. Brook trout sampled from the Pherrins River do not show any evidence of substantial gene flow or successful reproduction with hatchery fish.
3. These results support the hypothesis that brook trout from the Pherrins River are a native population.
For more on this project, see our Wild Trout Initiative page…
