Natives of the N'East

A look at past and present environmental issues affecting Brook Trout in their native range.

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Shikellemus Native Tale

Once upon a time the Brook Trout did not have the colorful markings on their sides. When the great Manitou went to visit the land of the Iroquois, He grew hungry while on his long journey. One evening He stopped beside a pool surrounded by huge white pines and hemlocks that reached up to the sky. When he saw that it was full of beautiful trout, all as black and shiny as the night sky, he reached in and caught the largest fish. But when He looked closely at it He saw how beautiful and strong it was, and how graceful its brothers swam through the pool. He decided that it was better to let the fish live even though it meant He had to go hungry.

The trout swam away, but his sides became silvery where the Great Spirit had held it and it was covered with many colored spots and halos like the night sky as a mark of having been handled by the Manitou. The marks on the young parr even show where the fingers of the Manitou held it.

Because of this the Brook Trout was sacred to the Indians of the Six Nations and they would not catch or eat the Brook Trout.

(Story from http://www.denniskalma.com/river/brooktroutstory.html)

(http://www.thefingerlakesimages.com/output5a/Wildlife%20and%20Endangered%20Species/Fish/slides/Brook%20Trout%20parr.html)

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Brook Trout: A Primer

Originating during the period of glacial recession across the North East; the Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) has thrived in cold water streams and ponds throughout New England and the Appalachian mountain range for the last several million years as the only trout to claim the North East as their native habitat. A brightly decorated, beautiful fish, arguably the most beautiful of the trout and salmon species, the Book Trout typically ranges in size from 6 - 13″, is a dark to medium olive color with lighter vermiculation across their back and dorsal fin, pale yellow spots, sparse red spots with a bluish halo, red to orange coloration on the lower body and fins -which have a white stripe along the forward edge- and an ivory to white belly.  Brook Trout, who can only survive in the freshwaters they call home, are greatly susceptible to degradation of water quality. A decline in brook trout populations can serve as an early warning that the health of an entire system is at risk.

The species, under duress for over 100 years, has remained surprisingly resilient despite major human impact to their native range. These damages include, but are not limited to; deforestation, acid mine runoff, coal ash dumping, agricultural industrialization, urbanization, over-harvest, and non-native species introduction. See map below for status data:

(Hudy et al. 2008)

As a fly fisherman I have come to love these little fish and the beautiful places they live in my home state of Pennsylvania and in the posts to follow I hope to highlight the issues affecting these wonderful fish in great detail; not to point fingers, but to provide an understanding of where we can all make and affect the necessary changes for not only Brook Trout, but ourselves and the places we also call home.

Brook Trout image courtesy of Michael Ellis Studios