Statewide fisheries plan approved

The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commissioners has approved Montana’s first statewide fisheries management plan. The plan will guide fisheries management across the state for the next six years. Previous plans were made for an individual water body or on a case-by-case basis.

Most bodies of water in the Flathead River drainage will see few changes in management direction and philosophy. It will continue to be illegal to fish for bull trout in all but a handful of select waterways where the endangered species is doing well. Cutthroat trout fishing will continue to be catch-and-release in the mainstem and North and Middle forks of the Flathead River outside the wilderness boundaries.

In the South Fork of the Flathead, the plan is to continue to eliminate non-native species in wilderness lakes to preserve westslope cutthroat trout. Over the past several years. FWP biologists slowly removed non-native fish by poisoning the wilderness lakes. The lakes were later re-stocked with native cutthroats.

The document was revised after two months of public comment, including a chapter on how the state will manage fisheries as climate change impacts rivers and lakes. Montana’s weather has varied from record runoff in the spring of 2011 to the driest September in 188 years of record in 2012.

Warmer weather has had an impact on the state’s fisheries. In the Yellowstone River, non-native smallmouth bass typically migrate as far upstream as the Huntley Diversion. In warmer years, they’ve been found as far upstream as Laurel, outside Billings. With continued warming, occasional incursions another 30 miles upstream to Columbus would not be unlikely, FWP predicts.

Overall, the general weather pattern could impact aquatic invertebrates, streamflows and water temperatures. Montana’s cold, clear trout waters could see shifts in trout populations as native species are forced to migrate further upstream to find suitable habitat.

FWP will seek in-flow protections to preserve cold water in streams where possible, seek protections in headwater streams, maintain reservoir levels and continue to monitor the effects of climate change.

The statewide fisheries plan drew 77 comments, which ran the gamut of criticisms. Several commented that the plan heavily favored native species and native species restoration even when certain non-native fish — notably northern pike in Northwest Montana — were more popular.

FWP responded by saying it would continue to advocate suppression of northern pike in the region, noting the fish are an illegal introduction, popular or not.

Others criticized the document for not taking enough steps to ensure the health of native populations. Some called for stiffer fines and even more emphasis on preserving native fish populations.

Montana Trout Unlimited was also critical of the plan. Conservation director Mark Aagenes said the plan provides an excellent catalogue of current conditions but lacks vision.

“It doesn’t lay out anything proactively,” he said,

Aagenes claimed the plan doesn’t have any vision for controlling non-native lake trout in Flathead Lake. Lake trout are largely blamed for the severe decline of bull trout in the drainage. Currently FWP has liberal limits for fishermen taking lake trout and encourages fishing derbies, which harvest a lot of fish, but it has stopped short of endorsing more severe control methods, like netting lake trout.

Trout Unlimited did not endorse a netting plan for lake trout in Flathead Lake, Aagenes said, but FWP should have laid out a more proactive response to the problem.

“It punts,” he said.

Region 1 fisheries manager Jim Vashro responded that the document is not static.

“This plan is adaptive,” he said. “We’ll respond to problems and opportunities as they come up.”

As far as Flathead Lake goes, Vashro noted that the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, which control the south end of the lake, are working on an environmental impact statement for a new management direction on the lake. As such, Vashro noted the tribe is driving the process for future management of the lake.

Aagenes also claimed that walleye were introduced illegally in Canyon Ferry Lake near Helena, but now the state manages them as a game species. He said the document should at least have an appendix of illegal fish introductions in the state.

The 470-page plan is available online at http://fwp.mt.gov/fishAndWildlife/management/fisheries/statewidePlan/managementPlan.html.