Should CO Parks & Wildlife be in the Business of Killing? Part 1: Fish

Colorado Parks & Wildlife plan to kill All Fish in Another CO Reservoir

tinyurl.com/c7o6b5g

Wildlife managers are supposed to manage wildlife. They are not perfect but I would prefer they do it. Generally, letting the public do it by which animal is warm and fuzzy instead of with science is a mistake.

"The Rainbow (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was introduced to Colorado in the 1880's. It is identified by a reddish stripe running down the side of the fish, and by black spots. It was introduced in 1888 into the Gunnison River. They are native to the U.S., but not to Colorado. They spawn in the Spring."

So the choice between fishes is purely based on aesthetics.

Vote for Romney, kill and bolt that shit!

Rowdy Wrangellian wrote:Vote for Romney, kill and bolt that shit!

Best thing I heard all day! Haha

Stich wrote:"The Rainbow (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was introduced to Colorado in the 1880's. It is identified by a reddish stripe running down the side of the fish, and by black spots. It was introduced in 1888 into the Gunnison River. They are native to the U.S., but not to Colorado. They spawn in the Spring." So the choice between fishes is purely based on aesthetics.

I read this a while back. I thought it was more that the bass just can't survive to a descent size or age. The lake is too cold for them but while they are young they'll wipe out your trout for the next season and the next. If their both non native you want the one that can live for a decade, and get big, not just a couple of years. That's what I got out of it.

This is an issue that is broader that a single reservoir. Several factors have likely been considered by DOW regarding taking this extreme action.

-Broader environmental impact of introduced species outside of the reservoir. Miramonte is not an isolated drainage, and smallmouth could impact other fisheries, threatening endangered species (Colorado Pikeminnow, Razorback Sucker, etc.)
-Recreation. These decisions are influenced by how to best balance the human factor and the environmental consequences of policy. If the fishery is adversely affected by the presence of introduce species, this area may suffer from a decrease in tourism and thereby harming the local economy.

So many of these issues have relevant venues, I am not sure MP is an appropriate place to be debating this topic.

It seems that the author and OP (both or same?) lack understanding of fish biology.
Is it nice to mess with mother nature? Not usually. But this is not mother nature that they are messing with. The Rainbow Trout there are closely related to the native Cuthroats. The Suckers/Bass are not filling an old niche in the system.
They are not doing it to pick on bass. They are doing it after a group of trained professional biologists took things into account that the average Joe would not likely understand... then made a decision after public comment.
I guess I could go fling poo too, but it wouldn't make me right.

Feed the Fish? Seriously? What? More fish? What's the point? Neither would joining PETA.