Assessment of Brook Trout Restoration Efforts in Two Great Smoky Mountains National Park Streams

Ben F. Brammell and S. Bradford Cook
Department of Biology, Tennessee Technology University, Cookeville, Tennessee 38505, Phone (931) 372-3194, Fax (931) 372-6257, sbcook@tntech.edu

Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) distribution in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) has undergone a major decline during the past century. Once common from the low gradient streams near the Park boundary to the highest tributaries, brook trout are now primarily limited to small, high elevation streams, which provide marginal habitat. Loss of brook trout range has been attributed to habitat degradation and introductions of exotic rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss). Efforts are currently underway to restore brook trout populations in two streams within the GSMNP. Pilkey Creek is a small stream (mean width = 2.27 m) on the North Carolina side of the GSMNP, which has been devoid of trout since logging activity made the creek uninhabitable in the early 1900's. LeConte Creek (mean width = 3.10 m) flows from the Park into Gatlinburg and had an allopatric population of rainbow trout, which was removed in a series of four removal procedures during 1998 and 1999.

This study will examine the survival and reproduction of translocated brook trout. Brook trout (N=177) were translocated to a 1.5 km reach of Pilkey Creek during the fall of 1998. Surveys conducted during summer 1999 resulted in the recapture of 33% of the translocated fish. Capture of 88 young-of-the-year fish indicated a successful spawn during fall 1998. Three hundred fish were translocated to a 2.4 km reach of LeConte Creek during fall 1999. Surveys will be conducted during summer 2000 to assess survival and reproduction in LeConte Creek.