The Brook Trout and Coaster information gathered here at Brook Trout Heaven, focus on Northwestern Ontario fly fishing and sport fishing in Lake Nipigon, Lake Superior and it's tributaries.
(all Brook Trout posted on this site were released)
The Project
In 1999 a research program was initiated by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to determine if coaster brook trout are a unique stock, subspecies or an evolutionary significant unit (ESU), or if they are a variant within a population that adopts a different strategy (e.g. migratory instead resident). These questions and others were addressed using microsatellite DNA which permits the identification of individuals and their relatedness.
Results
The genetic results showed that coasters are produced by river brook trout populations, and are an ecological variant rather than a distinct group.
This means that healthy brook trout populations within Lake Superior tributaries produce both coaster and typical brook trout and that coasters do not compose a cohesive group (population, stock or ESU) unto themselves. Some riverine populations of brook trout were shown to be closely related, indicating significant movement by coasters between river systems. Based on the number of coasters associated with river populations and the degree of relatedness among tributaries, coaster production varies considerably among Nipigon Bay tributaries. Comparison of hatchery brook trout stock with assessed river populations in these sites indicated that past stocking initiatives did not contribute to brook trout production in the study sites. This work was done at Trent University with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
For more information contact: Silvia D’Amelio Trout Unlimited Canada sdamelio@tucanada.org (519) 824-4120 ext. 53608
Protect and Preserve...
because even the little parents can produce big brook trout in the Nipigon.
a brook trout DNA sequence
Don't tell my wife...
Nothing Fishy about the Brook Trout DNA project
Microsattelite DNA Project
