DEC announces release of final Adirondack Brook Trout Pond Management Plan

The New York State DEC has announced the release of its final Adirondack Brook Trout Pond Management Plan.

“Other than Maine, New York’s Adirondack Park is the only other location in the lower 48 states that supports a significant number of ponded brook trout fisheries, which shape the region’s ecological legacy and future,” said DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton.

“A collaborative process guided by the latest science helped create a roadmap to improve the status of these unique fisheries and address emerging challenges to pond-dwelling Adirondack brook trout. DEC appreciates all who helped contribute to the plan’s development and looks forward to implementing the measures that will strengthen brook trout conservation.”

Representing New York as the state fish, Brook Trout remain an iconic symbol of the Adirondacks and DEC’s new plan identifies the current risks, challenges, and opportunities that will guide the State’s management actions at Adirondack brook trout ponds for the next 15 years.

According to DEC officials, Brook Trout habitat has taken a hit throughout the Adirondacks over time due to several variables, including acid rain and the introduction of other detrimental fish species.

It has been 46 years since the original DEC plan for managing pond-dwelling brook trout was created and many factors contributing to the health of the fishery have changed during that time.

The final plan was developed based upon an intense review of what fisheries managers have learned over the past four decades, public feedback from three information sessions, input from a focus group of sportspersons and conservation organizations, and feedback received from a 45-day public comment period.

Expected benefits associated with the plan include:

• Protection of existing and establishment of new self-sustaining brook trout populations.
• Safeguarded hatchery brook trout production for fishing and restoration purposes.
• Maintenance and expansion of heritage broodstock waters.
• Consistent and standardized data collection and management, and development of a decision support tool for management actions.
• Creation of a citizen science brook trout pond angler partnership program and deployment of a citizen science survey to provide information on angler use, catch, and harvest.
• Uniform fishing regulations.
• Improved management of “put, grow, and take” recreational fishing.
• Increased awareness about the value of ponded brook trout populations and human and ecological threats to the security of those populations.
• Actions to reduce the spread of incompatible and detrimental fish, including baitfish.
• Consideration of climate change in management actions.

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