Bear Lake

[gshorthair]

Copro, let me try to help you with the function of gill netting macks or any other species. They are simply taking a look at the population. Is it increasing or decreasing? What condition are the fish in. That is the same kind of information they are collecting at the deer checking stations. One of the things you need to be aware of with macks at Bear lake is they are the result of a fish stocking program. The macks in the lake seem to have little if any success reproducing because most of their eggs are eaten before they can hatch. The macks they are stocking now are triploid and can't reproduce. The macks at fish lake and the gorge do a good job of keeping the lake stocked on their own. A good question for BLM to ask the biologist this week is if they are sterile do they still go through the spawning activities. If not then they wouldn't have a reason to gather at the rock pile. Hopefully if the numbers are down after the drought years maybe they will stock more macks in the future. It depends on the information they collect with the gill nets.
It is unfortunate that they can't find a way to sample the fish without killing them. gshorthair
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