|
DEC Announces Release of Final Adirondack Brook Trout
Pond Management Plan
Published: January 05, 2026
at 04:30 p.m.
By: Press Release
from NYS DEC
DEC Announces Release of Final Adirondack Brook Trout
Pond Management Plan
First Revised Plan in Nearly Half a Century will
Guide Management to Ensure the Future of This Unique Fisheries Resource
New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Amanda Lefton
today announced the release of the final Adirondack Brook Trout Pond
Management Plan. The brook trout is New York’s state fish and 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.
“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,” Commissioner
Lefton said. “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.”
In the United
States, pond dwelling populations of brook trout are extremely rare outside
of Maine and New York. Brook trout ponds are an important component of the
natural heritage of the Adirondacks, providing a unique angling opportunity
in an often-secluded location. Once ubiquitous on
our northern landscape, up to 90% of brook trout pond habitat has been lost
due to anthropogenic factors, including poor silvicultural practices,
acid-precipitation, and incompatible and detrimental fish species introductions.
Retaining this resource is imperative to preserve our Adirondack natural
heritage and a key element of the ecosystem.
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.
A final copy of
the plan and more
information about Adirondack brook trout pond management can be
found on the DEC website.
The plan is just one way DEC’s investments in habitat enhancement, angler
enjoyment, and research will help continue to protect brook trout and other
Adirondack fisheries. Earlier this year, DEC announced a $100 million investment from the Clean Water, Clean Air and
Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act and other capital funds for State
hatchery improvements, including enhancements at the Adirondack Fish
Hatchery that will help construct a new brook trout broodstock building.
DEC also held the “Trek for Trout” citizen science initiative aimed at
collecting information from anglers about their fishing trip. DEC and
partner organizations Trout Unlimited, NY Backcountry Hunters and Anglers,
Trout Power, Native Fish Coalition, Paul Smith’s College, and State
University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry posted
signs at 148 Adirondack brook trout ponds. In addition to a pond-specific
QR code, signs posted by the volunteers for use by anglers include
important messaging about the prohibition of baitfish use in brook trout
ponds. Watch a video about the Trek for Trout on DEC’s YouTube
page.
|
