WASHINGTON (CN) - the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to reintroduce Bull trout to the Clackamas River subbasin. The fish, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1998, have not been seen in the Clackamas River since 1963.
The bull trout has been harmed by overfishing, hydroelectric dams, habitat degradation due to dredging, agriculture, forestry and diversion projects, and introduction of nonnative species to keep anglers happy when the native populations declined.
As a first step toward reintroduction, in 2003, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife stopped stocking nonnative brook trout in lakes with outlets to streams in the upper Clackamas River subbasin that provide suitable bull trout spawning and rearing habitat.
While gone from the Clackamas River, the bull trout is found in five western states and reintroduction to the Clackamas is not considered necessary for the survival of the species.
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