Invasive Brown Trout Population Assessment & Suppression Feasibility Pilot Study 2016

This project involved combining the age, survival rate, diet proportions, population estimates, and growth rates of Trinity River Brown Trout based on three years of field work into a bioenergetics simulation. The output of that simulation was the biomass of four prey categories consumed over the course of a year. The findings were written up as a masters thesis with recommendations for future suppression efforts to ameliorate the impact Brown Trout have on the native fishes of the Trinity River, including endagered SONCC Coho salmon.

Results from this assessment, detailed in the final progress report, will be used to illuminate the magnitude of the problem and capture success rates will inform suppression feasibility while implementing a one-time suppression treatment via fish collections. This project would be conducted in close coordination with NOAA, USFWS, CDFW, the Yurok Tribe, and Humboldt State University. This project was conducted primarily by Justin Alvarez, a tribal member and employee of the Hoopa Valley Tribal Fisheries Department, and Dr. Darren Ward at Humboldt State University, as part of Justins requirements for a Master of Science (major in Natural Resources) degree from Humboldt State University.