Date of Award
5-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
College/School
College of Science and Mathematics
Department/Program
Biology
Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair
Randall FitzGerald
Committee Member
Scott Kight
Committee Member
John Smallwood
Abstract
Rainbow trout are a widely distributed species for recreational angling. The state of New Jersey has 14 streams in which the Bureau of Freshwater Fisheries stocks hatchery raised Rainbow Trout. This paper focuses on the Flatbrook-Roy catch and release section of the Big Flat Brook in northwest NJ. From 2012 to 2015, electrofishing surveys conducted by the NJDEP reported significantly less fish within the Flatbrook-Roy catch and release area, compared to the state’s other catch and release area in the South Branch of the Raritan River. This study was designed to investigate and understand the fate of the trout introduced into the Flat Brook-Roy section by looking at their survivorship and movement in and/or out of the catch and release section of the stream. 79 fish were surgically implanted with radio transmitters and introduced into three separate stocking locations from April-September of 2017 and 2018. The data collected across the two years showed that the trout were not traveling outside of the catch and release designated waters. Across the summer months of each year, there was a 100% mortality rate within the sample, all credited to specific mammalian or avian predation events. Between the stocking sites, the trout both stayed longer and survived better at the site with the largest pool dimensions and most in-stream cover. The findings help fisheries management decisions by confirming that the introduced trout do in fact remain within the designated catch and release waters. Future decisions related to fish allocation and fishery regulation should consider stocking sites of adequate size that provide enough cover to increase survivorship and mitigate predation in order to maximize the recreational angling experience.
File Format
Recommended Citation
Shea, Christopher J., "Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Movement and Mortality in the Flat Brook-Roy Catch and Release Section of New Jersey" (2020). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 491.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/491