Then open commercial fishing for lake Trout. I was a Pacific NW and an Alaskan fishing guide, and I have boats I would do this if a commercial fishing was allowed.

I live in NH, where introduction of lake trout to Lake Sunapee almost a century ago extirpated an entire indigenous population of variant arctic char unique to Lake Sunapee. They were so abundant that in the fall when they spawned, entire gravel shoal sections of the lake would be orange-yellow with their vibrant spawning colors. The introduction of aggressive non-native lake trout wiped out the local char population in a matter of decades, and interbreeding took care of the rest through genetic dilution. The strain is extinct, thanks to man's ill-conceived interference.

I have spent a lot of my life involved in the effort to control the sea lamprey in the Great Lakes in order to save the lake trout. The irony that this species is wreaking havoc so nearby is not lost on me.

I live in Erie Pa and love the spring lake trout season. Catching those giants less than a mile off shore makes for incredible days in the boat. There are hardly any other boats out after them. We troll in circles around North East, catching dozens of huge lakers and usually don’t even see another boat. Everyone keeps their boats dry until the walleye season but I always launch before April to bridge the gap between ice season and smallie season. We truly have it all in Erie. World class walleye, perch and smallmouth. Great ice fishing. Steelhead and lakers. It’s a 12 month fishermen’s paradise. A lot of people don’t even bother with the lakers which is insane to me. I have a 29’ stripper seaswirl, but you don’t need anything like that to get on the lake trout. A 16’ with a 9.9 will get you out there. But like I said, lake trout fishermen are few and far between, despite there being thousands of them just a few hundred yards from shore

I hope Yellowstone Lake has no limit on the number of Lake Trout that can be kept. One would think that given the amount of fishing pressure most lakes in the west are under, that removing the limit on Lake Trout would go a long way to help eliminate them from the lake, or at least reduce their numbers.

Very informative. thanks!

Great video, the Yellowstone Lake restoration efforts are one of my favorite subjects to learn about and study. Such an interesting but difficult challenge. Hope the cutthroat continue to rebound and that the lake trout are able to be controlled.

Worked for the NPS in the park 5 summers in the early 70’s and fished the upper Yellowstone, Cub Creek, Clear Creek, and Pelican Creek often. It is beyond criminal that someone in the 80’s decided to illegally transplant lakers in Yellowstone Lake destroying a spectacular native fishery that had survived 10’s of thousands of years. At its peak the Yellowstone cutthroat population was over 2 million fish in the lake and the drainages feeding it. In less than 20 years the population had fallen to a couple hundred thousand due to laker predation. Beyond sad.

Awesome video, really highlights how one small change in an ecosystem can have far reaching consequences. The truth is, we will be spending a lot of time and resources trying to clean up poor decisions that were made in the past.

In the early ‘70s myself and two friends canoed across Yellowstone lake up the Shoshone River into Shoshone Lake. There we caught some Lake trout. The lake was so clear you could see them 50 feet deep when they were hooked. We estimated each trout to be 5 pounds

Growing up in the early '70s we used to fish Yellowstone every summer. At that time Lake Trout, Brown and Rainbows were very common in Lake Shoshone and Lake Lewis. We used to target Lake Trout when trolling. Cutthroat trout were less common. I was a bit surprised by his 1994 intro date. Lake Trout were obviously there 20 years earlier.

I did a lot of fishing on Yellowstone Lake in the late 90's. Unfortunately I did see quite a decline year by year... Hopefully we can bring my favorite fish back!

Whether it’s state biologists or recreational anglers doing it, I can’t think of one time where a non native fish introduction on a large scale helped the ecosystem in any way. I live in Vermont and back in the late 80’s and early 90’s Vermont Fish & Game introduced alewives into Lake Champlain as a forage for landlocked salmon and lake trout. What they didn’t realize at the time is that when landlocked salmon eat alewives it produces an enzyme in their liver than causes infertility. As a result, along with other environmental factors, land locked salmon fishing on Lake Champlain has been on a steady decline for decades.

I live in Idaho and not only lake trout but brown trout, walleye and especially pike have become menacing problems that are costing taxpayers millions to deal with. Some of them were even stocked by a well meaning game and fish department when fish management was in its infancy. The predominant fish in the big panhandle lakes were bull trout (char), cutthroat and Kokanee. In many lakes and rivers these fish were totally or nearly wiped out. Restocking along with bounties and no limits on the predator fish are helping. Game and fish has also been operating an almost commercial size netting program on the bigger lakes for years. Still, the fisheries will never fully recover and the war will never end.

Invasive species of all types can be an ecosystems worst enemy, Burmese pythons in the everglades is well known but one of the worst ecological disasters of the 20th century happened when a tree lover in Oregon brought over Chinese chestnut trees that also introduced the chestnut blight to north america, the American Chestnut had no immunity. American Chestnuts were not only the dominate canopy tree in the eastern and upper midwestern US until this point, also the major source of food for wildlife from deer to bears to squirrels, more than oaks and preferred by wildlife. in a matter of 30 years from the 1920s to the early '40s, the chestnuts were destroyed by the blight. Chestnuts were also a major foodsource especially in Appalachia adn their loss in the middle of the great depression was devestating. Who has not heard of Bing Crosbys 'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire'. Chestnuts in the store now if you can find them are almost all Chinese chestnuts. They American Chestnut is now considered extinct w just a few small pockets here and there left. Restroration efforts are ongoing using blight resistant strains of these surviving trees, I have a small grove on my property here in the northeast that so far has shown no blight, fingers crossed my half dozen trees can grow to maturity and I can use those chestnuts to plant more trees to leave a legacy.

So there's no catch and keep limit on Lakers of any size or time of year right?

Some really nice lakers there! Hopefully the cutts can rebound…🎉

They're spawning somewhere usually in a concentrated area at a certain time so I would suggest a trawler on the spawning beds during spawning season.did the job on n Atlantic cod right so your welcome lol

Is there any idea as to how the Lake trout were introduced? Could it be possible that Lake Trout were there all along, and the population simply had a major resurgence due to increased cutthroat trout numbers?

Such a bummer especially for fishermen I once saw a man made basin filled with trout that people could feed I couldn’t believe the size of these trout.

The same unfortunate progression or regression is to be seen in many African countries, where the introduction of (for us) exotic alien invader species such as carp (Asian and common), largemouth and smallmouth bass and trout have gradually decimated the populations of indigenous species such as tilapia and barbs. Over the last few decades, other factors have placed pressure on the native fishes, such as water pollution, as vital related infrastructure is not maintained properly; and illegal and indiscriminate netting by poachers due to economic pressures. Paradoxically, despite the fact that the aliens are destroying biodiversity, and native fishes are becoming ever scarcer, most sport anglers practice catch and release instead of removing them from the waters. The admirable B.A.S.S ethos, which works on native fishes in America and Canada, doesn't pan out very well in regions of the world where the same fish are problem children.

I was there in the 90s. It might have helped if you let fisherman know that they could catch lake trout and keep them for no fee, Instead of charging them for a fishing permit, To Only fish flies on streams. Send the fishing pressure to the lake trout, And take it off the cuts throats.

Need to keep up the gill netting. Saturate areas with nets where sonar shows fish congregate. There is no one time fix, gill netting needs to be an ongoing process through out the year every year at least when it's not iced over. Either hire a crew that works for the parks or contract it out on a permanent basis. What are the spawning habits of lake trout? Do they spawn in open water or in tributaries? While there will be some bycatch of the non targeted species net mesh size can be regulated to let the smaller cut throats swim through. We have our fare share of exotics here in Louisiana both flora and fauna, most brought in as ornamental or to establish new industries to the detriment of our native species. This will never get rid of the lake trout it will take out a lot of the larger brood fish

nice.

In the mid 90’s I went there and caught a few lake trout and didn’t know they were not supposed to be there of course I removed them.

Cajun fried lake trout is excellent 👌

Long live the trout

Why are the lake trout dumped overboard after being dispatched?? Cant they be sold the same way as Crayfish??

So how about an unlimited take for Lake Trout?

But people still go missing at Yellowstone?

This makes me want to cry. Back in the 70s we went camping every summer. Fishing was incredible. The limit was 3 but they had to under 16 inches. You couldn't put a line in the water without catching a fish. You could fish all day and not catch 3 under 16.

I wonder if Patricia Bigelow is related to one of the authors of the fisheiies bible(Bigelow and Schroeder) of the western Atlantic Species.

Unlimited catch on Lake Trout be allowed. Only sport (always release for Ctthroats would be a good plan.

Great film apart from showing the still breathing lake trout whilst it is being gutted.

My man Lin Manuel Miranda explaining these issues like a G

Guaranteed that there has been a ton of fatalities of cutts due to by catch in those stupid nets. Gill net dont care nice release lady

23 years ago I could walk on the backs of those cutthroats across creeks in Yellowstone and not get my feet wet.

Consider introduction of ciscoes or smelt for the lake trout.

We have the same issue in canada on spray lakes. It was a cutty creek then they damed it and make a lake and put lakers in it. U can still catch a cutty and they are huge but the lakers have taken over. U can catch more than 100 lakers in a matter of hours

If you have lake trout in there that place is done. The cutthroat are just food for them good luck.

how were the lake trout "introduced".

I bet he misses the mountains.

guido Guido GUIDO!

So mandate a no throwback policy on lake trout and ban the fishing of cut throat trout.

I respect what I am learning but I do question how Lake Trout was planted into Yellowstone. The fish is a deep water species and it would be difficult to transport. I 11:43 suspect that the species has always been there and the lake environment has changed. I think we need to learn more about how the forage base beyond Cutthroat Trout has changed in Yellowstone.

Why there Trout are being thrown out overboard? Can these be sold to local restaurants and pubs for fish and chips ?

No keep for cutthroat and bounty for lake trout.

Drop the limit on lake trout

They need also to find out where those lakers are spawning.

Just like the damn walleye that have been bucket dumped in parts of Montana.

Just figure out what they polluted Cayuga lake with that prevents Lake Trout from successfully spawning. Done.

HOW did lake trout get into the lake???

I wonder how many Lake trout the gill netter are able to catch a day?

It only takes a little more time to put the eggs in a compression cylinder and stop the splitting of the chromosome. Hence you have an "it"!

Don't eagles also eat lake trout?

Cant put the genie back in the bottle. The Faustian bargain has been struck, ling before we were born.

Mechanical removal is a complete waste of time and money. Over 4 million fish removed and it's done essentially nothing.

Can you spearfish lake trout?

Imagine if pike were in there damn they would get huge

Makes me sick to my stomach. Tragic.

Hmmm, I will have to check my sources, but I remember stories of large Lahontan lake trout being caught decades ago in Yellowstone Lake

Remember, the NPS was responsible for introducing lake trout to Yellowstone.

The catch and kill method is a waste of useful protein, I get they should be removed but catch and keep…and feed some folks who need it , this is a case where the government is already spending money on the environment and could also help people make ends meet cheaper than just food stamps , etc .

Great video but not great news. Just another example of a few selfish men/women screwing things up for the rest of us. Fyi, Lake trout feed near the surface in the spring. I can't see how anything will change in Yellowstone Lake, the damage is done. In addition, is there a reason the caught lake trout are dumped back in the lake rather than being harvested? Just wondering.

why throw those fish back in the lake? Food for somebody

Weird thinking of lake trout as a destructive species. Just wait until smallmouth bass get in there. They have destroyed 1000s of lakes here in NW Ontario. The native species, especially walleye, have been decimated due to the bass. Smallmouth can live just about anywhere. I know of lakes as far north as 55 degrees latitude that have invasive bass in them!

Transfer lake trout to lake Mich. I know it would be very expensive but worth it.

And yet Lake trout are all but gone in the great lakes. Might be endangered?

So very sad hoping that this will be a lesson learned and that more information on the hazards of doing something like this wouldn't happen again sad

Anyone else think this seems extremely futile and a waste of taxpayer money? I do care about the decline of native trout, it’s extremely sad and is especially prevalent where I’m from in Nova Scotia. But I can’t see this working out.

Lake trout are part of nature.why transplant them anywhere? Yellowstone trout are very pretty.my parents bought me Franklin mint trophy trout and the yellowstone was one of them.sister in law smashed them.

what?!? people being people??? say it is not true!!! :(

Funny how lakers are dying in the Great Lakes where they are supposed to be and taking over where they are not

Need to interfere, that's taboo? Fishing derbies would be good. Electric boat motor only. Fish hatchery would be good. These lake trout are deep, boat nets just skim the upper profile. This will never decrease the lake trout.

Use some of those $35 entry fees for a bounty and they’ll be gone in no time. Me and my boys will come through.

They “park” invited the lake trout when they put in paved roads, paved roads are the primary travel paths for the dysfunctional… there was once plans to build an amusement park on the shores… and don’t forget the zoo that once inhabited “dot island” and the EC waters ship wreck, the capitalistic man has been exploiting these waters since there arrival …. The best way to save the” park”is foot access only!!!

climates change, shift and return...... stop this madness.

Time to stock muskies, they will eat the lake trout.

They will be gone in ten years

Unfortunately, as long as there are idiotic individuals who can hold a fishing pole, this type of thing will continue. Too bad there is not an intelligence test required before issuing a fishing license.

From viewing just the first few minutes of this video, it is quite clear that humans are the primary reason for the dramatic decline in the cutthroat trout population. The filming of the fish catches by anglers in the olden days demonstrates how these fish were over harvested. Perhaps the state didn’t have a catch limit, or the anglers just didn’t follow the regulations. Either way, that’s a human problem. Then we have some individuals who illegally or irresponsibly introduced lake trout to the lake. Again, a human problem. When it comes to respecting the environment, so many people suck.

Plant some perch crappie and walleye! What an awesome place that could be !!

Climate changeologist.

I feel the same way about England with Africans and Pakistanis invaders

You're called conservationists. Yet you just threw overboard large quantity of lake trout as garbage...lots of food! If this was in this video...how many more times has this act been done? And we are supposed to trust your judgement...

In 1970 I was 14. My uncle had a 22' boat and we had three families do a campout on the lake at a remote campsite. The fishing was fantastic. He took the boy cousins out, there were six of us for a few hours and we caught about 30 fish. Then he took an equal number of girl cousins out and they out fished us. The deal was the group that caught the least fish had to clean them all. As the oldest boy I was the lead and I remember cleaning upwards of 50 fish. I forget the limit but with the number of people we had fishing we were near the limit, but under. I relate all of this as first hand evidence of how plentiful the Cuthroat were. I believe the minimum size was 14". To catch these fish all we had to do was troll Mepps spinners. It's a crying shame some idiot introduced this non native predatory species into the lake. Shame on them.

Fish eat other fish

Had to get that plug in for "climate change" -his job depends on playing his part for the WEF.