Comparative Abundance, Survival, and Growth of One Wild and Two Domestic Brown Trout Strains Stocked in Michigan Rivers

Abstract

Stocking is commonly practiced to create, sustain, or enhance fisheries, but comprehensive evaluations of stocking success are rare. I assessed the relative abundance, survival, and growth of three strains of brown trout Salmo trutta that were stocked as sympatric populations into six rivers to evaluate relative stocking performance from 1997 to 2000. Stocked brown trout from wild broodstock were initially smaller but were more abundant and had higher survival and growth rates than fish from two domestic strains. However, on average, the densities and biomass of all stocked brown trout were lower than the densities and biomass of unclipped resident brown trout. Fisheries managers must consider the performance of individual stocked brown trout strains, as well as the performance of stocked brown trout in general, when implementing or reviewing brown trout stocking programs.