DUNKARD CREEK-8JanY2K17
CHARLESTON GAZETTE MAIL
Rare Crayfish May Endanger Trout Stockings on Four WV Streams
Charleston Gazette-Mail
7 January 2017
By John McCoy, Staff Writer
The presence of the endangered Big Sandy crayfish might prevent
the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources from stocking
trout in two McDowell County streams where the crustacean is known
to exist.
The presence of two endangered crayfish species might affect trout
stockings on four streams in Southern West Virginia.State
fisheries officials are working get the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service’s permission to stock rainbow trout into Clear Fork and
Pinnacle Creek in Wyoming County, and Dry Fork and Panther Creek
in McDowell County. Officials from the federal agency are
concerned that the trout might eat enough crayfish to push the two
endangered species even closer to extinction.
All four streams are on the Division of Natural Resources’ 2017
trout-stocking list. Bret Preston, the DNR’s assistant chief in
charge of fisheries, said the agency wouldn’t stock the streams
until they obtain clearance from Fish and Wildlife Service
officials.“We do still plan to stock those streams,” Preston said.
“We’re working with the service to get everything resolved by the
time the stockings are scheduled to begin in February.”
Clear Fork and Pinnacle Creek are what the DNR calls “bi-weekly”
streams. They receive stockings every other week from February
through May. Dry Fork and Panther Creek are “monthly” waters that
are stocked once a month from February through May.To help Fish
and Wildlife Service biologists to make an informed decision as to
whether stockings might further threaten the crayfish, DNR
biologists last fall captured and killed trout from those streams
and examined their stomach contents for crayfish remains. The
results were sent to Zac Loughman, a crayfish expert at West
Liberty University near Wheeling.
Loughman is the biologist who first identified the endangered
crayfish populations. One species, the Guyandotte crayfish, had
been considered extinct until Loughman found a few individuals in
Pinnacle Creek and Clear Fork. He found the other species, known
to biologists as the Big Sandy crayfish, at several locations in
the upper Tug Fork watershed, including Dry Fork.Because of the
species’ presence or potential presence, stockings in those
streams are considered “on hold” as well, at least until Fish and
Wildlife officials give the go-ahead.Preston expects them to give
it, and he expects that to happen in time for the February
stockings.
“From the results of the stomach-contents study, and from the
literature we’ve consulted, rainbow trout pose little threat to
crayfish,” he added. “The rainbows we stock are usually caught
quickly, and they’re in the streams during the winter and spring
when water temperatures are low and trout don’t feed as actively.”
If permission doesn’t come, however, DNR officials will have
little choice but to suspend the stockings.“We do not want to be
in the position of violating the Endangered Species Act,” Preston
said. “Instead, what we want is to work this out with the [Fish
and Wildlife] Service. Trout anglers need to know that the service
is not opposed to our stocking program. They just want to make
sure they do the right thing to protect those species.”
Reach John McCoy at johnmccoy@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1231 or
follow @GazMailOutdoors on Twitter.