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2003 marks the first year of a multi-year fin-clipping study. In the photograph below, NH Fish and Game employees, as well as volunteers from JRCG, the Whitefield Conservation Commission, and the local community handle and clip fish at the Twin Mountain fish hatchery. Every fish stocked into the watersehd was clipped (adipose and/or right ventral). As the season progressed, we recorded in a database information regarding every fish caught. After a few years, this information will allow us to calculate definitively the proportions of wild (i.e. naturally-reproducing), stocked, and holdover fish. In our creel study, approximately 250 fish were caught with length, species type, location where caught, and ESPECIALLY clipped-fins recorded. Approximately 90% of the fish recorded were brook trout, even though only browns and rainbows are stocked in the mainstem of the John's. Of these 200+ brookies, 91% did not exhibit any clipped fins, meaning they are holdover fish from prior year's stocking or wild! Brookie lengths ranged from 4" to 14"! We will keep you posted as our data acquisition progresses. This is great news, as we've suspected all along that brookies do great in this watershed. |
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