Is This A Concern?

[jgentile]

Interesting tid bit I found on another forum. I apologize if posting this link is in violation of any Ozarkanglers forum rules.

http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/index.php?news=3419

Joe

[Ozark Sweetwater]

It is a major concern for The White River System. Basically if Greer's and Norfork hatchery close there will be no trout to put in the rivers. There is some natural reproduction of the browns but very little if any, with the rainbows. With the current regs, it would take no time at all for these rivers to be fished out.

If the trout go, so does the economy in Mountain Home,Norfork ,Gassville,Flippen.Cotter,etc.

Just think of all the resorts,restaurants,fly shops,tackle shops,and guides that will be out of business. It's a scary proposition.

[Ham]

I'm more than a little happy with the status quo. There have been multiple studies done showing that the costs of the hatcheries are more than offset by the revenue they bring in, BUT changes may have to be made. The costs of the hatcheries may have to taken on by the states.

Believe it or not, I've heard more than one fisherman say we'd be better off without the hatcheries.

[jdmidwest]

There has been that scare tactic before, I think it was the Clinton Administration. The Federal Cool Water Hatchery was shut down for a while in Mammoth by them. It is back up somewhat and there is a brand new multi million dollar visitor center there. The money is there, they just have to allocate it properly.

They are repairing the dam at Spring River hatchery this summer so they can ramp back up to normal production. Maybe they will pick up the slack of the Feds if they shut down, The flood of 2009 damaged the dam and water flows to the hatchery. This renovation will help restore the flows and production.

If trout stocking stops, maybe the streams will return to its world class status of a smallmouth fishery?

[Ozark Sweetwater]

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If trout stocking stops, maybe the streams will return to its world class status of a smallmouth fishery?

This won't happen. The dams would have to be removed and I don't see that happening anytime soon. The feds need to hold up their end of the bargain on all the mitigation hatcheries,not just the ones in Arkansas.

[jdmidwest]

Smallmouth could prosper again on the rivers if the competition from the introduced trout would go away. Sure, close to the dams would be too cold, but farther down the native smallmouth would gain ground again.

They thrive in Canada in colder streams than the tailwaters of the White and Norfork.

I went and toured the new Federal Conservation Center at Mammoth Springs Federal Hatchery this weekend. Pretty impressive display of taxpayer dollars spent. I especially like the mounted immature bald eagle that looked like it was involved in a stickup. His wings were held high in a surrender mode, poor taxidermy. Ground was broke in 2011 and completed this spring. It does not say what they spent on it, but would have kept other hatcheries going for a while I suspect.

https://www.facebook.com/MammothSpringNFH

The NFH needs to spend more on hatcheries and less on showcase buildings like this. Their websites tout how much revenue is generated in tourism and recreation dollars by stocking the fish. More fish mean a better economy.

http://www.fws.gov/mammothspring/

[Gavin]

The smallmouth wont come back w/o dam removal. They can live there, but they prefer warmer water than you find below those dams. They will go were they are comfy...not were they are not.

The White & Norfork tailwaters could support a wild trout fishery, but it would require a huge cultural shift and regulation change. The tourism industry would take a big haircut, that is for sure.... Plus, the potential to grow toad beast brown trout would not be there if abundant stocked trout were removed as a food source (live & entrails). Think there could be a pretty decent wild trout fishery there but it would be very different from what exists today. Would that be better or worse? I'm not concerned either way....Fish Hatcheries have to be pretty low on the list of discretional government spending. We might have to do without, and that is fine with me.