TUSWVT presents Dr. Robert A. Bachman, PhD, on August 29, 2006 in an open presentation to the public
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Follow up on Dr. Bachman's Presentation
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"Foraging Behavior of Free-Ranging Wild and Hatchery Brown Trout in a Stream"
Dr. Bob Bachman's paper, "Foraging Behavior of Free-Ranging Wild and Hatchery Brown Trout in a Stream" is now available online here as a PDF file with his permission.
At 32 pages, it's a fairly large file (5.4MB), and will take a considerable amount of time to load or download if you are using a dial-up connection.
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Thank you to those who joined us from near and far. We had over 70 in attendance
from at least 3 states (VT, MA & NY). And a huge thank-you to Dr. Robert Bachman
of course for his wonderful presentation. It was truly eye-opening. For a quick
review of some of the most pertinent points of Dr. Bachman's presentation, refer to
the following points. Finally, for a sobering look at the numbers see the table below.
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- There's a place for both hatchery & stocked trout waters, but...
- It's an either/or situation - you can't have both it both ways. You can't have both wild and hatchery stocked trout in the same stream. Why? See below. *
- VT F&W needs to present the facts, in a non-sugar-coated manner, to the public, in order to educate them as to why they make their decisions, and then...
- Make intelligent/informed decisions, based on sound scientific findings of course, and then stick to them....
- Realizing that introducing any stocked hatchery trout into a wild trout population will be a 'confounding element' - thereby rendering any attempt to draw meaningful conclusions of how well the habitat restoration efforts (and tax-$$$ spent) are working, futile, and a waste of tax-payer dollars.
According to Dr. Bachman's multi-year study, the introduction of stocked
hatchery-reared trout in the section of Spruce Creeek that he studied lead to
a decrease in the wild trout population of approximately 12%.
Just for the sake of argument, if that 12% drop in population is indicative of
what could potentially happen in any wild population of trout, and you simply
"do the numbers" assuming a 12% drop annually and a sample population of 1000,
look at what happens over 5 ... 10 ... 15 ... 20 years. Granted, nature isn't a
test-tube and things don't always happen with such mathematical certainty, but
this should at least make you stop and think something like: "Hey, wait a minute,
if they keep putting fish IN the river, why are the numbers going in the WRONG
direction?"
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| Year |
Wild Trout Population |
Estimated Decline in Wild Trout Population due to stocking (estimated at 12% annually) |
| 1 |
1000.00 |
120.00 |
| 2 |
880.00 |
105.60 |
| 3 |
774.40 |
92.93 |
| 4 |
681.47 |
81.78 |
| 5 |
599.70 |
71.96 |
| 6 |
527.73 |
63.33 |
| 7 |
464.40 |
55.73 |
| 8 |
408.68 |
49.04 |
| 9 |
359.63 |
43.16 |
| 10 |
316.48 |
37.98 |
| 11 |
278.50 |
33.42 |
| 12 |
245.08 |
29.41 |
| 13 |
215.67 |
25.88 |
| 14 |
189.79 |
22.77 |
| 15 |
167.02 |
20.04 |
| 16 |
146.97 |
17.64 |
| 17 |
129.34 |
15.52 |
| 18 |
113.82 |
13.66 |
| 19 |
100.16 |
12.02 |
| 20 |
88.14 |
10.58 |
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Finally, we're working on getting a copy of Dr Bachman's actual paper that we
can post on the chapter site, distribute to the policy and decision makers
in VT F&W, etc. More to come on this.
Also planning on working with Dr. Bachman get some of his incredible film footage
and slides digitized so it can be archived and possibly posted here on the site
in a small streaming format to view online. More to come on this also, so stay tuned.
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On Tuesday, August 29, 2006, 7-9PM, at Burr &
Burton Academy (Riley Theatre) in Manchester, VT, Dr. Bachman will be joining us
to discuss and present findings from his pioneering
behavioural study of wild and hatchery brown trout in Spruce Creek (PA).
A "Q&A" session will follow the presentation.
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A synopsis of Dr. Bachman's Presentation
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Behavior of wild brown trout in a steam: the effects of food, 'cover', and
hatchery trout.
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Bob will show how wild brown trout feed, interact with each other and adult
hatchery trout, and explain how food and 'cover' determine the population
structure and growth rate of wild brown trout in a stream as revealed in his
four-year behavioral study of wild brown trout in a central Pennsylvania trout
stream. Included in the presentation are rare motion pictures of wild trout
fighting with introduced hatchery trout and the results of introducing hatchery
trout into a wild trout stream.
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This presentation, hosted by the Southwestern Vermont Chapter of Trout Unlimited
will be free of charge, open to all, and intended to help
educate the public on the behavioral interactions between wild and
hatchery brown trout.
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As an added bonus, we'll be raffling off some great fishing gear to attendees!
We have two brand new Orvis rods to raffle off: a Zero-G
fly rod and an Orvis spinning-rod, but you can't win either one if you don't
attend the presentation!
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This presentation promises to be extremely informative and eye-opening based on
feedback from others who have already seen, heard or read of Dr. Bachman's research.
For more details on Dr. Bachman, read on, including a copy of his professional
resume.
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Robert Bachman, PhD.
Dr. Bachman holds a doctorate in behavioral ecology from the Pennsylvania State
University, a Bachelor of Science degree in Oceanography from the University of
Washington, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine and Electrical
Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. After service in the US Navy,
Dr. Bachman was employed with the state of Maryland for 13 years where he held a
number of fish and game related positions including: Director of Fisheries
(inland and marine), Director of Fish and Wildlife, and Chief of Freshwater
Fisheries. Throughout this thirteen-year period he supervised, among other
things, Maryland's coldwater fishery and in such capacity was instrumental in
establishing environmental and regulatory changes resulting in the creation of
four nationally recognized tailwater trout fisheries. His pioneering behavioral
study of brown trout at the Pennsylvania State University won him the American
Fisheries Society's "Best Paper Award" and has been widely cited in professional
papers, magazine articles, and national publications such as the New York Times
and Newsweek. His article in the 1985 Winter Issue of Trout, "How Trout Feed"
won him the C. E. Orvis award "Best published how-to fly fishing magazine
story."
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Dr. Robert Bachman's Professional Resume
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"Hatched and Wild Fish: Clash of Cultures",
by William K. Stevens, appeared in the July 23, 1991 New York Times and
featured Dr. Bachman's research.
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Keep the Battenkill Wild!
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