WILD THING
Southwest Gold THE INSPIRING RECOVERY OF GILA TROUT Story and Photos by Katie DeLorenzo
Gila trout have luminous gold bodies.
New Mexico has two native trout species, the Gila trout and our state fish, the Rio Grande cutthroat. Gila trout have luminous gold bodies adorned with copper gill covers and, often, a faint pink stroke at the midline. Their native habitat is the Gila River and its coldwater tributaries. In recent times, habitat loss due to a variety of natural and human-caused factors, including drought, diversions, and wildfire, has jeopardized their existence. Their survival became so precarious that Gila trout were listed federally as an endangered species from 1967 to 2006. The recent Gila trout story is one of challenges, triumph, and cautious optimism. After the devastating Whitewater Baldy fire, fish had to be evacuated to a hatchery before toxic ash caused die-offs in seventy-five percent of occupied Gila trout streams. The successful evacuation of fish from different lineages was critical to ensuring future genetic diversity. Five recognized lineages of Gila trout, including Main Diamond, South Diamond, Spruce Creek, Whiskey Creek, and 26
edible New Mexico | SPRING 2019
the recently added Iron Creek, are propagated at the Mora National Fish Hatchery with plans to restock historic habitat. Thanks to the ongoing efforts of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, the US Forest Service, and others, Gila trout recovery is a testament to the effectiveness of interagency collaboration. Since 2006, Gila trout have been down-listed to threatened with a provision that allows for limited recreational fishing in specific waterways. There are close to 11,350 Gila trout onsite at the Mora hatchery for broodstock development. Annually, about twenty-five thousand fish are stocked and around one hundred thousand eggs are transferred to the wild and other hatcheries. In the wild, abundance is measured in stream miles occupied. With the addition of Whitewater Creek there are now one hundred and fourteen miles of occupied habitat with a recovery goal of one hundred and seventy-three miles of occupied habitat.
