Chapter Spotlight: New Hampshire...
NFC members measure a badly degraded and perched culvert on an unstocked wild native brook trout headwater stream in New Hampshire...
NFC was founded in Maine in late 2017. A year or so later we added a New Hampshire chapter. While neighboring states with similar geography and ecology, when it comes to wild native fish Maine and New Hampshire are very different. In many ways, Maine is what New Hampshire used to be. And New Hampshire is what Maine could become if we are not careful…
New Hampshire lost most of its lake-, pond-, and river-dwelling wild native brook trout decades ago. What’s left of New Hampshire’s wild native brook are now found primarily in small streams, with the most intact populations found in backcountry headwaters. The result is that wild native brook trout over 8 inches are relatively rare in New Hampshire.
Having lost their wild native fish, New Hampshire is now dependant on stocking to maintain lake, pond, and river brook trout fishing. With the exception of seasonal fishing on the lower Dead Diamond River, most larger brook trout waters in the state are stocked. And many historic wild native brook trout waters are now managed for nonnative salmon, rainbow trout, and brown trout.
Some native brook trout streams in New Hampshire have self-sustaining nonnative trout populations, mostly rainbows, as a result of decades of stocking. These fish compete with wild native brook trout for food and space. This is especially true with regard to the Androscoggin River watershed, including the Wild, Peabody, and Moose Rivers, as well as their tributaries.
The lack of large wild brook trout, a decades long reliance on stocking, and the fact that the largest trout caught in the state are usually nonnative and/or stocked, makes lobbying for wild native brook trout conservation in New Hampshire difficult. Anglers know what they have today but in many cases don’t know what they have lost, or what they could have with a more wild/native centric management focus.
The good news is that New Hampshire has some of the finest wild native brook trout stream fishing in New England. Much of it is found on protected public land such as White Mountain National Forest which as some of the highest elevations and coldest water in the region. This is a primary focus of NH NFC, as well as the belief that some backcountry ponds could become self-sustaining if managed accordingly.
While progress in regard to wild natiive brook trout conservation in New Hampshire has been slow to come, and support for such is dangerously lacking, progress has been made and NH NFC has been able to put some notable wins on the board:
NFC has kept the issue of wild native brook trout management in New Hampshire in the public eye more than any other group we are aware of. We have blogged, written articles, created informational cards, done presentations, and attended shows and events . This is critically important in regard to gaining support for something that has fallen through the cracks to a high degree.
NFC worked to remove the biologically unsound multi-species definition for “Brook Trout” from statute and rule. This improves messaging by separating native and nonnative trout, while paving the way for brook trout specific regulations in the future. Brook trout, rainbow trout, and brown trout are now classified as “trout” rather than “brook trout” as was the case for decades before NFC lobbied to get it changed.
NFC attempted to codify New Hampshire’s badly stalled out and at-risk of going away Wild Trout Management (WTM) program. The idea was to try to save and expand the program by making it law not policy. This tactic was used successfully in Maine to create the State Heritage Fish law which protects close to 600 wild native brook trout lakes and ponds from stocking and the dangerous use of live fish as bait. When you consider that NH Fish and Game recenty tried to remove protective regulations from all 3 WTM ponds, while the effort failed it’s tough to say that NH NFC was wrong.
NFC successfully lobbied for the suspension of a dam modification project in Franconia Notch that would have given nonnative and highly invasive yellow perch, as well as stocked brook trout, access to 1/3 of a mile or so of headwater stream they do not have access to today. In addition to maintaining a small manmade pond rather than returning the stream to its natural state, while touted as a way to provide brook trout access to spawning habitat, there was no plan to suspend stocking downstream in Profile Lake.
NFC has been working for two years to try to get a badly degraded and perched culvert that is blocking fish passage on an unstocked wild native brook trout headwater stream replaced. It took over a year just to clear up ownership and responsibility due to inconsistencies in regard to a Memorandum of Understanding between the state and USFS. NFC will continue to try to find support and funding for the project.
NFC raised roughly $500 to replant a short section of wild native brook trout stream that had been logged to the water. We placed temperature loggers upstream and downstream of the logged area to ascertain the impact of canopy loss on stream temperature. While not obvious at the summary data level, the detail data showed a daily 2+ degree spike in water downstream of the logged area. Tree planting will commence spring 2025.
As part of a multi-state initiative, NFC worked with New Hampshire Fish and Game and NOAA to create an informational sign in regard to threatened and endangered Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon. Signs have already been posted in ME and MA, and will soon be posted in NJ and PA, with plans to expand even further. NH signs will be ordered shortly and posting will begin soon after we receive them.
NFC worked with New Hampshire Fish and Game to get stocking suspended on several streams that support viable populations of wild native brook trout. This includes the upper Wildcat River in Jackson, a formally designated Wild and Scenic River.
Members of NFC have assisted NHFG and other organizations in e-fishing surveys on several waters including the Wildcat River and tributaries to the upper Beebe River.
NFC performed an analysis of 2023 stocking data reporting back to New Hampshire Fish and Game where they were stocking over wild native fish and places they had stocked where they had previously agreed to suspend stocking.
While most who opined opposed the loss of fly fishing only restrictions on stocked brook trout ponds as part of a sweeping regulations change proposal published in summer 2024, NFC opposed the removal of protective regulations on wild native brook trout waters. This included providing written testimony, speaking at the public meeting, and publishing OpEds in Concord Monitor and Union Leader.
NFC recently submitted a formal proposal in regard to managing wild native brook trout to New Hampshire Fish and Game. The group also met with New Hampshire Fish and Game to discuss the proposal and plans to meet again after the holidays.
NFC publicly challenged a statement made by a spokesperson for NHTU that angler harvest was not a limiting factor in regard to maintaining healthy wild native brook trout populations. Statements like this are not only incorrect, but they make wild native brook trout conservation more difficult than it already is.
NFC has written about the plight of several well-known New Hampshire rivers in regard to the loss or decline of wild native brook trout. We covered the Ammonoosuc, Saco, Swift, and Zealand Rivers.
While it is likely too late to do anything about it, NH NFC has challenged work done by U.S. Forest Service on the Zealand River to protect a road so that a municipality can maintain a dam that siphons more than 500,000 gallons of water a day from the river while also blocking fish passage.
While NH NFC looks to stay the course with regard to an absolute focus on the protection and restoration of wild native fish, we cannot do it alone. If you are interested in helping to protect, preserve, and restore wild native brook trout in NH, please contact us at Info@NativeFishCoalition.org
“While New Hampshire anglers and orgs worked to save fly fishing only regulations on stocked brook trout ponds, U.S. Forest Service was decimating one of the finest large wild native brook trout streams in the state...”
The Zealand River in White Mountain National Forest. Relocated by USFS to save a road that never should have been built.