Patterico's Pontifications

9/6/2007

Yikes! Some Trout sure do Look Alike

Filed under: Environment,Government — DRJ @ 12:42 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

As a public service, here is a rather fishy Endangered Species Act story:

A 20-year government effort to restore the population of an endangered native trout in Colorado has made little progress because biologists have been stocking some of the waterways with the wrong fish, a new study says. Advances in genetic testing helped biologist discover the error, which was called a potential black eye, but they said there is still hope for restoring the greenback cutthroat trout.

The three-year study, led by University of Colorado researchers and published online in Molecular Ecology on Aug. 28, said that five of the nine populations believed to be descendants of the endangered trout were actually the more common Colorado River cutthroat trout, which look similar. The study said the results imply that the effort has “failed to improve the species’ status.

So re-stocking with a different fish hasn’t worked? Well, stick a hook in my mouth and call me bait.

It turns out the greenback cutthroat is also a reclusive trout:

“The fish was added to the federal endangered species list in 1978. The greenback were believed to be in 142 miles of waterways, including in Rocky Mountain National Park, Rosenlund said. The new study, based DNA test results, found the greenback cutthroat trout’s range is only 11 miles of streams.

Not to worry! Biologists haven’t given up yet:

The research results are a setback but state biologists believe the program will succeed over the long term, said Tyler Baskfield, Colorado Division of Wildlife spokesman. “We’ve been moving fish around in the state since the late 1800s, and now the new science comes in and all of a sudden it’s a different playing field,” Baskfield said.

University of Colorado professor Andrew Martin, the study’s principal investigator, said that while the findings might give the recovery program a “black eye,” the hope is that biologists and agencies will move ahead on recovering the species before it goes extinct.”

Those greenback cutthroat trout are pretty tough. They’ve managed to survive despite 20 years of the government’s best efforts to re-populate them with common, everyday cutthroat trout. What a black eye. It’s enough to make an environmentalist see red.

19 Responses to “Yikes! Some Trout sure do Look Alike”

  1. What is a species, after all? For that matter, what is “the” human genome that scientists wish to map? Where does individual variation define a group, and why?

    ras (adf382)

  2. Way back in ancient days, when I took biology, the test was fairly simple: If A and B cannot have fertile offspring, then A and B are different species. Assuming you aren’t trying to mate two males, or two females, of course.

    Hence horse and donkeys aren’t the same species.

    If this trout’s range is only eleven miles of streams, I’m not sure it can be saved. Too small a population.

    On the other hand, if it’s so hard to distinguish from Colorado River cutthroat trout, which can live in the same streams, why should I miss it?

    LarryD (feb78b)

  3. Unfortunately, this is just one example of the silliness that the Endangered Species Act has resulted in. Our statutory schemes for endangered species need drastic revision to reverse the incentives in favor of protecting wildlife and to correct the ridiculous incentives that encourage biologists to find silly “subspecies” to frustrate development.

    Robin Roberts (6c18fd)

  4. I had a moronic acquaintance in college who argued that efforts to eradicate human parasites like worms and disease pathogens like viruses were the same as chemical warfare and genocide. His position was that if we can’t survive them without external interventions including anti-biotics then we should cede the planet to them.

    I suppose he would consider artificially increasing competitors by the addition of common cutthroat trout into the greenback cutthroat trout areas sub-species genocide. Or maybe he’d see adding more greenback cutthroat trout interfering with the natural ascendancy of the common cutthroat trout. But that’s beside the point.

    Point being that biological diversity is like politics. Identifying too closely with your particular subspecies, parasites, or pathogens makes you seem stupid.

    Just Passing Through (cb6c8d)

  5. Trained biologists need a DNA test to tell one species from another? Must not be a big difference, right? So why are we worrying about the Greenback in the first place?

    mojo (8096f2)

  6. Larry D,

    Exactly, and as Robin notes, it’s just a dodge by which the down-with-people crowd can frustrate others.

    From the act:

    “(15) The term “species” includes any subspecies of fish or wildlife or plants, and any distinct population segment of any species or vertebrate fish or wildlife which interbreeds when mature.” [my emph.]

    It’s really the Endangered SubSpecies Act.

    ras (adf382)

  7. There is too much money to be made by inventing species and then finding there aren’t any of them (I’m slightly exaggerating).

    Dustin (aba75b)

  8. Heh! Or almost heh! It would be funny if not for the taxpayer dollars wasted. Why don’t we see if we can restock the Colorado River with environmentalists?

    nk (a6ecc6)

  9. NK:

    Why don’t we see if we can restock the Colorado River with environmentalists?

    Heh, yourself. I wish I’d said that.

    DRJ (2afbca)

  10. Why don’t we see if we can restock the Colorado River with environmentalists?

    We would, but they do not know how to swim, so that would be a hate crime.

    JD (0b8ce0)

  11. By that interpretation, we don’t need a new “Save the Redheads!” act.

    Al (b624ac)

  12. Obviously what we have hear is a clear case of cutthroat competition that would make Crazy Larry proud.

    kishnevi (97f80a)

  13. For all of you in SoCal, be prepared to genuflect before the alter of the Delta Smelt.

    I’m sure that when they cut our water rations back about 40%, the lawns all dry up, and even the illegals have to “get out of Dodge”, we’ll still have positive thoughts about saving those vital little critters.

    Another Drew (8018ee)

  14. An embarrassing epilogue to a long article on efforts to rescue native trout that appeared in the August 2007 issue of Smithsonian magazine (starting on p. 86). On page 90 the article proudly proclaims about the greenback, “The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has removed greenbacks from the endangered list; Colorado has honored them as its state fish; and anglers are even allowed to fish for them on a catch-and-release basis.” I felt so elated after reading that article last week. Now you have to just have to wonder.

    Iapetus (ea6f31)

  15. Thanks to Iapetus’ helpful comment, I bring you the greenback cutthroat trout, Colorado’s state fish.

    DRJ (2afbca)

  16. Perhaps the “greenback” cutthroat trout has been doing quite well for itself after all.

    Responsible care for the environment is important, and I like the idea of all of those colorful trout you have out west that we don’t in the east, but…

    doesn’t “Greenback Cutthroat Trout” sound like it should be the specialty at some DC restaurant known for hosting lobbyists and political bosses?

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  17. If we carefully tote up the effort, equipment, transport etc expended on the restocking, we can actually calculate the carbon footprint of a fish!

    ras (adf382)

  18. drj
    “Colorado’s state fish.”

    Hence the reason. Well that and some green goofie group already knew such would not work so to make another poster child…??? You get the drift. Sounds like the biogolists are taking it in the face then in stride as well.

    If we have to go to the “Molecular” level to determine that an Z and B exist, It’s possible that we indeed have some crazy scientists working on our tax dollars. Something in my head about value vs. costs.

    BTW; did ya know they are killing by Retenon the same fishes they basically forced us taxpayers to put into the river. Yuppers, to save the listed ES humback carp and boney tailed chub. Apparently they both seem to have been around a 130 million years after the dinos departed.

    There used to be a real “blue ribbon” trout fishery below the dam. Today it’s just another clear cold stream that has some trout in it. Who cares what color or brand, bad enough they are in the rainbow trash fish class! (that would have been there for humor not insult).

    TC (1cf350)

  19. Time to dump the ESA and save speices with out all those stupid restrictions SAVE THE SNOWY PLOVER SCREW THE SIERRA CLUB

    krazy kagu (b1eb84)


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