05-08-2012, 07:56 AM
While getting my oil changed yesterday, I stumbled across a very interesting article in Salmon & Steelheader magazine. New research shows that 40% of all returning steelhead are actually fish that have a genetic makeup consistent with that of 1 steelhead parent and 1 localized trout parent! I realize you can't really call it a hybrid, since obviously steelhead ARE merely ocean going rainbows - but the implications of this are actually really great for steelhead. The study concluded that the healthier the wild trout population in a given river, the healthier the steelhead were on average. Scientists found that since all hatchery raised fish are less fit (smaller, weaker) than their wild counterparts - when hatchery fish spawned in the wild with a local wild trout, it actually raised the fitness level of the offspring and thus the returning steelhead. I wish I could find the article online so I could post it, but this was a revelation to me. Has anyone else heard this before?
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