Trout Management on the Batten Kill

When:

Fri, February 23, 2pm – 3pm

Where:

Neighborhood Connections, 5700 Mountain Marketplace, Londonderry, VT 05148

Speaker:

Lee Simard, Fisheries Biologist

The talk will cover the history of the Batten Kill and the Department’s past, current, and future management practices.

The Batten Kill is one of Vermont’s pre-eminent wild trout streams and the status of its brown and brook trout populations have been closely monitored since the early 1980s. A near collapse of the brown trout population in the Batten Kill in the 1990s prompted a set of studies which indicated a lack of in stream cover was leading to low survival of midsize trout and likely contributed to the population decline.

In stream habitat improvement projects have consistently shown an increase in the number of fish across multiple age classes in project areas providing confirmation that cover is likely the primary limiting factor. Current management is focused on encouraging protection and enhancement of riparian zones along the Batten Kill which provide many ecosystem benefits including the natural recruitment of in stream habitat as trees grow and fall into the river.

State and Federal agencies, watershed groups, and other organizations and dedicated individuals continue to work collaboratively to improve the overall health of the Batten Kill watershed and its fish populations.​

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