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Long-term captive breeding does not necessarily prevent reestablishment: lessons learned from Eagle Lake rainbow trout

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Abstract

Captive breeding of animals is often cited as an important tool in conservation, especially for fishes, but there are few reports of long-term (<50 years) success of captive breeding programs, even in salmonid fishes. Here we describe the captive breeding program for Eagle Lake rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss aquilarum, which is endemic to the Eagle Lake watershed of northeastern California. The population in Eagle Lake has been dependent on captive breeding for more than 60 years and supports a trophy fishery in the lake. Nevertheless, the basic life history, ecological, and genetic traits of the subspecies still seem to be mostly intact. Although management has apparently minimized negative effects of hatchery rearing, reestablishing a wild population would ensure maintenance of its distinctive life history and its value for future use as a hatchery fish. An important factor that makes reestablishment possible is that the habitat in Eagle Lake is still intact and that Pine Creek, its major spawning stream, is recovering as habitat. With the exception of an abundant alien brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) population in Pine Creek, the habitat factors that led to the presumed near-extinction of Eagle Lake rainbow trout in the early twentieth century have been ameliorated, although the final stages of reestablishment (eradication of brook trout, unequivocal demonstration of successful spawning migration) have still not been completed. The Eagle Lake rainbow trout story shows that long-term captive breeding of migratory salmonid fishes does not necessarily prevent reestablishment of wild populations, provided effort is made to counter the effects of hatchery selection and that natural habitats are restored for reintroduction. Long-term success, however, ultimately depends upon eliminating hatchery influences on wild-spawning populations. Extinction of Eagle Lake rainbow trout as a wild species becomes increasingly likely if we fail to act boldly to protect it and the Eagle Lake watershed.

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Acknowledgments

The manuscript benefited from the helpful comments of an anonymous reviewer, P. Divine, D. Lile, M. McFarland, and K. Vandersall. Funding was provided by the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Lassen County Resource Advisory Committee. G.C.C. received support from J. Carmona, the University of California Water Resources Center, Trout Unlimited, Western Division American Fisheries Society (Eugene Maughan Scholarship), and held a doctoral fellowship (BR2010/10) from the University of Girona during the preparation of the manuscript. Special thanks to USFS Lassen National Forest, Susanville Indian Rancheria, DFG, P. Crain, L. Thompson, T. Pustejovsky, K. Tate, G. Green, A. Clause, K. Sorenson, T. Gildea, K. Robinson, L. Sedlack, J. Hobbs, C. Lee, T. Murphy, M. Moreno, B. Alexis, J. Catot and numerous volunteers and technicians.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, 95616, CA, USA

    Gerard Carmona-Catot & Peter B. Moyle

  2. Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, 17071, Girona, Catalonia, Spain

    Gerard Carmona-Catot

  3. Department of Animal Science, Genomic Variation Lab, University of California, Davis, Davis, 95616, CA, USA

    Rachel E. Simmons

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  1. Gerard Carmona-Catot
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  2. Peter B. Moyle
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Correspondence to Gerard Carmona-Catot.

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Carmona-Catot, G., Moyle, P.B. & Simmons, R.E. Long-term captive breeding does not necessarily prevent reestablishment: lessons learned from Eagle Lake rainbow trout. Rev Fish Biol Fisheries 22, 325–342 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-011-9230-x

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