Growth, Production, and Survival of Brown Trout in a Large Farm Dam

Abstract

Two releases of yearling brown trout in a large farm dam were unsuccessful, the first because of the escape of the fish in a flood, the second for unknown reasons, though the fish which were recovered from both these releases had grown well. A third release, of 3300 yearlings, proved comparatively successful, for while the fish did not grow quite so well as in earlier years, 904 of them were recovered after 10 months. The total weight of fish in the dam as a result of the second and third releases represented a standing crop of 43.5 Ib/acre (48.8 kg/hectare) or a production (for 10 months) of 21.8 lb/acre (24.4 kg/hectare). It was found that trout could become sexually mature in the dam, though they lacked suitable spawning grounds.