FISHING EXPEDITION
Anglers asked to help to solve mysteries of trout
If you are out fishing, taking a photo of your catch might benefit Penn State University researchers.
The researchers are asking for anglers’ help in evaluating the colors, pattern variations and genetics of wild brook and brown trout across Pennsylvania.
They’d like photos of wild brook and brown trout with a special gray card in the frame.
To participate, anglers can request the gray card at https:// bit.ly/3ij38nW, and the cards will be mailed to them for inclusion in trout photos.
The researchers are hoping to unravel the mysterious beauty of the trout. Wild brook trout, with their distinctive side patterns of red dots surrounded by blue halos, are the East Coast’s only native trout and Pennsylvania’s state fish.
It will also involve a smartphone app, Survey123, that will need to be downloaded.
“At the most basic level, we can look for unique populations that might warrant special protections for the stream or from heavy development on the surrounding landscape,” said researcher Sara Mueller, doctoral candidate in wildlife and fisheries science. “However, no one has really dug into
the ‘how’ trout look different. We hear stories, but no one has the hard evidence. Once we figure out the how we can ask why. Why do trout look different? We can then work to develop a list of potential explanations.”
Mueller has been involved in wild brook trout research for a decade. As an undergraduate student at Penn State, she was hired in the summer of 2011 as a fisheries technician by Jay Stauffer Jr., distinguished professor of ichthyology, whose research lab was a partner in the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s unassessed waters initiative, identifying streams inhabited by wild brook trout.
With a warming climate, it’s important to learn as much as possible about the Eastern brook trout genome because the fish is threatened and mostly confined to small, mountain streams, Mueller said.
“I’m still in the early stages of the DNA analysis, looking at their DNA in such a way that I can pick out local adaptations resulting from functional genes within isolated populations,” Mueller said
It’s important to know, as trout seasons opens Saturday, that the researchers are focused on wild trout, not hatchery trout. Anglers and researchers have ways to tell stocked and wild trout apart in the photos, Mueller said in an email.
“While we are seeking pictures of wild trout, sometimes it can be difficult to tell,” Mueller said. “Some stocked fish show outward signs such as damaged fins or a shortened operculum (gill covering) because of wear and tear from concrete raceways (a hatchery setting).
“Sometimes these are noticeable, and anglers will note that they caught a stocked fish. Also, anglers quite often know which waterways are stocked because stocking locations are public information. Within the data we receive, we can overlay the location information with the known stocking locations and make a scientific best guess as to whether a fish is wild or stocked.”
About the research
Here’s how it works: Anglers take a picture of a trout with the gray card in view and submit it via the Survey123 app. Instructions on how to download that app will be included when you receive the gray cards, Mueller said.
The Survey 123 app will ask anglers questions about their catches, Mueller said, adding that researchers promise that fishing locations will remain confidential and never be published as exact points. This research is open to all anglers who complete survey forms and are at least 18 years old.
“The presence, absence, characteristics and timing of trout color — such as parr marks, halos around spots and breeding colors — can be noted,” she said. “We think that color and pigment patterns are very important in identifying genetic diversity in trout and charr.
“The pictures, along with their locations, will answer questions about the differences in patterning and color, including intensity, variation and seasonal changes.”
Mueller also will be able to look at the approximate size, and therefore age, of the fish in the pictures with the gray cards included and estimate the timing of breeding condition as pictures are collected throughout the year.
She is using computer software to quantify the color and pattern variations in wild brook and brown trout, comparing particular elements of interest shown in photos such as the red and yellow spots along the sides of brook trout or the red and brown spots along the sides of brown trout.
The motivating force behind the project was Eamonn Powers, a junior majoring in wildlife and fisheries science. He approached Mueller wanting to conduct research with brook trout, and this project was the result, according to a news release.
He was awarded a grant by the College of Agricultural Sciences to fund his undergraduate research to begin analyzing angler photo submissions. An avid fly-fisherman for trout and other fish, he is focused on protecting wild brook trout and the headwater streams in which they still survive.
Anglers participating in the study may want to take a step away from the stream bank to snap their photos, Mueller said. To learn more about Mueller’s wild trout genetics research and the trout color study, go to https://sites.psu.edu/troutstudy/.
Trout season opens
The Fish and Boat Commission began stocking streams this year earlier than previous years but then rescheduled a few dates due to snow.
All stocked trout waters were to be closed until April 3.
By the end of 2021, the Fish and Boat Commission will have stocked 2.2 million rainbow trout, 686,080 brown trout and 293,420 brook trout in 831 streams and lakes.
Also planned for stocking were 13,100 trophy sized golden rainbow trout, which average 1½ pounds and 14 inches. One million more trout were to be released this year by so-called cooperative nurseries.