The bull trout population throughout the Flathead Basin appears to be secure, according to the annual spawning survey conducted by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists recently.
State wildlife biologists completed spawning surveys between Sept. 24 and Oct. 9. The results indicate a secure bull trout population, as defined through the Flathead Lake Co-management process, according to FWP.
Surveys in 31 tributaries of the North and Middle forks of the Flathead reflect the number of adult spawning bull trout migrating upstream from Flathead Lake. This year, 500 spawning sites or “redds” were counted, indicating that several million bull trout eggs have been deposited in these nests.
The count of 500 redds is 66 percent above the minimum secure level of 300 redds calculated for the Flathead Lake population. This count is nearly identical to 2008, when 503 redds were found in the basin-wide count.
This was the 11th basin-wide count since 1980. These basin-wide counts cover all known spawning areas and are conducted every three to five years as a way to ensure index counts adequately capture overall trends.
The 2012 results for index streams are positive, according to FWP. The 2012 count of 229 redds in the eight standard stream sections is almost 20 percent higher than the average of 193 redds over the last 14 years and the highest since the 2001 count of 230. This current level is about 60 percent of the 1980’s average, yet twice as high as the average in the 1990s.
This rebound is encouraging and indicates the current bull trout population is stable, FWP said in a statement.