Nat Gillespie talks about the state of brook trout conservation. Nat is the Assistant National Fish Program Leader for the US Forest Service in their Washington, DC headquarters. He served as the EBTJV Steering Committee Chair from 2017-2022.
easternbrooktrout.org
Many of the 17 states that form the core of the EBTJV have recently updated or amended their brook trout
management plans, or they are in the process of doing so. These management plans have elevated the importance of brook trout conservation.
Most states have eliminated the stocking of hatchery fish on top of wild brook trout populations. Many states have designated high quality eastern brook trout fisheries that have
special management regulations to protect these fish, and to improve and promote recreational fishing opportunities there, including Maryland, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Connecticut, West Virginia, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee. The state of Maine passed a regulation several years ago banning the use of bait on hundreds of their heritage wild brook trout ponds and lakes to protect these fish from non-native fish introductions.
So that leaves Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont as the only states without special management areas within the core "ME to GA" native range (excluding OH, GA, and SC due to limited presence). PA is the only mid-Atlantic state w/ no special management area, no brook trout specific angling regulations (state, regional, or otherwise), and still widely stocks over wild native EBT populations.
