Plans sought for lake trout

POLSON - Despite efforts to control Flathead Lake's lake trout population, the invasive fish has flourished since its introduction in 1905, and more drastic measures need to be taken to curb the species, said representatives from the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Salish and Kootenai tribes at a public hearing held Monday night at the KwaTaqNuk.

Speakers, including Barry Hansen, fisheries biologists for the Salish and Kootenai Tribes, aimed to inform residents with a half-hour slideshow on the adverse effects of lake trout on native fish species. Speakers encouraged community members to voice questions and concerns as response sheets were passed around the room of about 60 attendees.

The biannual Mack Days fishing tournaments, with over $100,000 awarded in prizes to curb the lake trout, have had little to no effect on decreasing the lake trout's numbers, Hansen said.

One controversial alternative idea involves netting, a process wherein thousands of fish can be captured and killed at a time, but Hansen explained that at this point the group is open to community suggestions and no particular approach has been decided on.

The lake trout was purposefully introduced to Flathead Lake for recreational fishing and were not a problem until another invasive species, the mysis shrimp, were discovered in the 80s, which provided a food source for the lake trout allowing the population to balloon.

"Lake trout reproduction was low, but when the shrimp became available, their survival rate went out of the ballpark. From that point forward, they ate everything: Kokanee, native cutthroat trout and bull trout," said Tom McDonald, division manager for CSKT's Fish, Wildlife, Recreation and Conservation Program.

The predatory lake trout quickly out-competed and overtook native populations, such as the bull trout, which was listed as a threatened species here in 1998. Two years later, a board consisting of tribal members and Montana state officials was created, and that board created the Flathead Lake CoManagement Plan.

"[The collaboration] was the result of litigation between the state of Montana and the Salish and Kootenai tribes, Basically, the judge in that particular case said, ‘You know what tribes and state? Neither one of you are going to win in this conflict. I want you to go back together, come to some cooperative solution and work together, because then it will be a win-win not a lose-lose," McDonald said, citing over 100 public meetings held over the past 20 years.

One early solution was Mack Days, and the first event was held in 2002. Despite the tournament's yearly harvest in 2009 totaling over 25,000 fish caught, and a general harvest that same year of over 15,000 fish, the tournament has not met the initial harvest goal of 60,000 fish per year, and lake trout are still thriving while bull trout have not increased in number.

The CoManagement Plan is renewed periodically, and is up for renewal this fall.

Proponents of more drastic measures to attack the lake trout population, however, face pressure from fishermen, who prize the lake trout for sport angling. The CoManagement Plan recognizes this balance between a desire to boost native species while recognizing the importance of the lake trout to anglers. Indeed, the plan's goal calls to "balance tradeoffs between native species conservation and nonnative species reduction to maintain a viable recreational subsistence fishery."

"Thinking about [the management of the lake] too little is the real problem," said Art Noonan, deputy director of Fish Wildlife and Parks. "This is about you. This is about your comments, this is about your ideas."

The board charged with the CoManagement Plan will collect public comments through May 17 via e-mail at rosel@cskt.org. Comments will be reviewed, and a decision will be made by Sept. 30. There will be at least one more public scoping meeting over the summer.