State rejects trout stocking in Batten Kill

January 22, 2007
MANCHESTER -- A proposal to stock the famed Batten Kill fishing river with sterile rainbow trout — to satisfy recreational anglers — has been dropped.

State Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Wayne Laroche said the state would focus, instead, on restoring habitat along the river so the native wild brown trout population can recover.

The plan to put the non-native rainbow trout in the river was contentious from the start. Opponents argued that although the sterile fish would not be able to reproduce, they still would compete with brown trout for survival. The brown trout population has been declining since the mid-1990s.

The Fish and Wildlife Department had been widely expected to drop the rainbow trout proposal. It's new plan calls for a six-year restoration effort.

"The habitat restoration work focuses on making in-stream improvements, primarily restoring fish cover to (the) stream, which has been proven to be sorely lacking and insufficient to support the population of brown trout we’d like to see there," said fisheries biologist Ken Cox.

Plans call for planting trees and other vegetation along the stream banks to prevent erosion and provide shade for fish. The department also wants to place wooden debris in the river bed to restore its natural flow.

The Fish and Wildlife Department was praised by Shelly Stiles of the Bennington County Conservation District for its new plan.

"I think it was definitely the right call ... not only on the basis of scientific testimony, but also in terms of the sentiment of a number of residents and river users," said Stiles.