Bringing Back the LCT
For the fifth year in a row, NDOW completed the Abel Creek YY Brook Trout project. The goal is to eradicate the nonnative brook trout in the system and allow the Lahontan cutthroat trout (LCT) to fully repopulate. The project is twofold: 1) wild brook trout are mechanically removed from the system, and 2) the system is stocked via backpacks with special YY brook trout from the hatchery. These YY brook trout are all male and will reproduce with any wild female brook trout to produce only male offspring. Over time, this will shift the population to be composed of more males and given enough time and consistency, the brook trout will ideally self-extirpate with no females in the population.
The 2026 project was a fantastic success with approximately 2,000 brook trout removed from the system and 2,400 YY brook trout stocked. 134 LCT were sampled despite the low water levels. Sampling efforts have estimated that the brook trout population is around 80.5% male which is a great response from the system.
A huge thank you goes out to all who have helped out with this project over the years, including multiple NDOW employees, federal partners, and other nongovernmental organizations for continuing to make this effort successful.