BILLINGS, Mont. — A voracious species of trout that decimated a native trout population in Yellowstone National Park shows signs of decline following a costly and protracted effort to kill off the invading fish, government scientists and a conservation group said yesterday.
Non-native lake trout were discovered in Yellowstone Lake in 1994 after being illegally introduced to the 132-square-mile body of water that attracts visitors from throughout the world.
Crews have since netted and removed about 1.4 million of the fish in hopes that cutthroat trout populations can rebound. Adult lake trout in Yellowstone can top 30 pounds, living almost exclusively on a diet of cutthroat trout, researchers say.
The netting costs about
$2 million annually, drawing criticism that too much money is being spent to kill off a species that’s highly prized by anglers elsewhere.
Backers of the removal effort insist it’s worth the cost. Yellowstone cutthroat trout are considered a key-
stone animal in the country’s first national park, providing food for 42 birds and mammals, including grizzly bears, osprey and bald eagles.
Before the first lake trout were found, the native trout supported a recreational fishery valued at $30 million annually in the early 1990s.
Whether that fishing economy can fully rebound is uncertain.
After years of scant improvement, the netting efforts finally have begun to show progress, according to scientists from the park and the conservation group Trout Unlimited.
The population of the invasive trout is beginning to decline, a recent analysis by researchers from Montana State University indicated. Meanwhile, the numbers of young cutthroat trout are increasing, suggesting a possible rebound by the smaller fish.
“I’m very encouraged by some of our recent successes,” said David Hallac, chief of the park’s science center. “The goal is to crash the population of lake trout to a point where they are no longer adversely impacting Yellowstone cutthroat trout.”
It’s unlikely that lake trout will be wiped out entirely, meaning some level of management will be required to keep them from again crowding out native fish, said Jack Williams, senior scientist for Trout Unlimited.