MUN PhD Student Seeks Information About Brown Trout

What would make an otherwise seemingly sane person pack up a car with everything they own and drive 7500 km across the United States, through the Maritimes to Newfoundland? For me, a newly settled Memorial University PhD student, it was the opportunity to study the ecology and evolution of introduced Newfoundland brown trout (Salmo trutta). As many people know, brown trout were introduced to Newfoundland in the late 1800s and have since spread to other systems on the Avalon and beyond. This observation has raised concern by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and others, that brown trout are competing with, and perhaps out-competing, native fish such as brook trout and Atlantic salmon. The project I am initiating is still in its infancy, but will seek to ask questions such as “how have brown trout adapted to their new environments?”, “how has adaptation changed competition among brown trout, brook trout, and Atlantic salmon?”, “in what rivers and ponds are brown trout currently found and why are they NOT in other rivers and ponds?”, “can we predict which systems brown trout are occupying and more importantly what systems they are likely to occupy in the future?”

It is in this last question that I seek YOUR HELP. A first step in predicting where brown trout will colonize rests in understanding where they are currently. Given that a person cannot catch a fish that is not there, I am seeking input from anglers. Specifically, I would like to know where and when you have caught brown trout, and am especially interested in systems on the boundaries of their assumed distribution (Bonavista to the North, Fortune Bay and Bay d’Espoir on the South). Also, I am interested in populations of trout that may be interesting in terms of how they look (strange or unique color patterns), timing of spawning (spawning early in the fall or very late in the season), or other behavior. Please note, that the information you provide will be used for research purposes only.I invite you to write me at pwestley@mun.ca or call 709-737-3465 to chat about what you know. It is a steep learning curve and I hope you can help up the slope!

Peter Westley