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Originally Posted by NUK SOO KOW
What would your guys opinion be on re-stocking river systems that are in bad shape? Fish stocking of flowing waters was made illegal some years back and I'm not sure why. I was told by biologists that stocking non native species is against the law(ie brown/rainbow trout) even though they are already in many rivers reproducing. . Browns were stocked in the oldman river when the dam was built. There is a small self sustaining population but I always thought it could use a boost. Even try stocking browns or rainbows upstream from the weir in Lethbridge. There are several trout holding rivers that join the oldman anyway. My point is if cutties are hurting in a river system. Stock it. Bulls hurting... stock it. Instead of closing them down boost them up. Thoughts??
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Common thought is that if a population is in decline, there is some limiting habitat factor. Adding more fish artificially just puts more competition on the remaining members of the population. The stocked fish will die, and maybe take the native fish with them by boosting predator numbers, eating the food, etc.