• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

A Fish's Tale

Posted on: Thursday, 7 July 2005, 09:00 CDT

FOCUS ON TUCSON: Apache trout

Volunteer groups work to save a threatened species

Fish's friend. The Apache trout, a once-endangered species native to Arizona, is thriving thanks in part to Tucson volunteers nabbing its nemesis

The story of the Apache trout isn't just another fish tale about the one that got away.

It's a success story of a once-endangered native species that is again getting along swimmingly in the streams and lakes of Arizona's White Mountains.

The narrative may have had a different ending without Tucson volunteers from Trout Unlimited, which has adopted the official state fish as its own for the Old Pueblo chapter's conservation efforts.

The Tucson group has taken charge of 149 miles of running water in the White Mountains near Show Low with the goals of re- establishing the Apache trout and restoring habitat to enable a self- sustaining population of the fish.

Since 1982, hundreds of Tucson volunteers have traveled north to help the recovery efforts. From Boy Scouts to University of Arizona students to avid fly fishers, groups spends several days each summer working on the rivers, streams and creeks involved in the recovery efforts.

For one such group of 10 volunteers, June 18 was the first work day of 2005. Volunteers spent the day focused on finding and swapping temperature sensors, checking barriers for leaks and catching crawfish.

The volunteers were split into three working groups, two to travel the lengths of Burro and Stinky creeks to exchange sensors and check barriers, and the third, and largest, to catch crawfish along the west fork of the Black River and along Burro Creek.

When first started in 1982, the work days were much more labor- intensive. Boulders were rolled into the west fork of the Black River and other streams, banks were reinforced with timbers, and native willows were planted, said Jeff Collins, the Tucson group's conservation officer and vice president. The bulk of the building is done, but maintaining the efforts of the past can be hard work. And, as Collins told the day's volunteers, "there's always crawdads."

The small, lobster-like crawfish is an invading species that is the scourge of native fish populations. Native fish suffer because of the crawfishes' voracious appetite. Spawning fish stand little chance of successfully reproducing if too many crawfish are nearby.

Thomas Estruth and friend Kyle Bujak, both 13, were among the volunteers hunting crawfish.

With new chest waders purchased for the day, the two trudged through the cold water setting traps and trying to catch the elusive crawfish with nets.

"It's exciting," Estruth, who came with his father, Jerry Estruth, said. "I'm glad that we saved a species today."

Source: Arizona Daily Star

More News in this Category