The Holston River in Tennessee just became the latest eastern tailwater to be stocked with cutthroat trout from the Rocky Mountains. Earlier in December, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) stocked 2,550 Snake River cutties that were provided by a partnership with the USFWS.
According to a press release from the TWRA, the trout were stocked “into the upper portion of Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir on the Holston River below Boone Dam.”
“These cutthroats are of the Snake River fine-spotted Cutthroat Trout strain and were provided through a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” the TWRA release stated. “The fish were hatched and raised at the Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery and were recently transferred to the TWRA Flintville Hatchery.”
Earlier this year the TWRA also stocked 3,000 Cutthroat Trout in the Hiwassee River and plan to release more of the fish into the Elk River soon, as well.
To learn more about the stockings, check out this article!
I am puzzled why authorities would put a high altitude rocky mountain native fish into a river in Tennessee. What kind of trout have historically resided in these Tennessee rivers? It isn’t talked about at all in this article.
Very odd and almost polar opposite at how Idaho is handling the invasive brook trout introduced there years ago. Maybe the numerous big eastern brown trout will solve the issue and look at this as nothing more than an over priced exotic meal. I would love to hear the who and what behind this research experiment. Those Native Brookies are precious.