Trout around the world are at the mercy of human impact. Overfishing and destruction of habitat due to logging, war and global warming are all contributing to threaten trout populations. Humans, though, may also be trout’s saviors.

We are fortunate to have special individuals and groups working tirelessly to preserve indigenous trout. Artist/Author James Prosek had illustrated this point with a story about his first trip to the Zeta River in Serbia-Montenegro to search for the rare softmouth trout. After 3 weeks of searching and finding absolutely nothing, he thought the trout was extinct. Reports from locals, including the president of the local fisheries club lamented the loss of the softmouth trout. A tip about a single man protecting these fish in his local, spring fed tributary prompted a scientific team to return. Because of this single man’s passion, the team discovered hundreds of fish. As a side note, with the commitment by the University of Lubjiana that is the recipient of revenues from World Trout, this scientific team has become Balkan Trout Restoration Group, with the mission to try to save the softmouth trout.

In 1999, on a trip to Yellowstone James Prosek and Patagonia owner Yvon Chouinard met. Hearing the stories of James’ efforts to catch various trout around the world and the dramatic challenges these fish are facing Yvon was motivated to try and help.

Since conservation efforts require organization, money and a positive political climate, the decision was to make this initiative simple and place the money into the hands of the actual groups working to protect the fish. By telling a compelling story and providing the angler and interested parties with a call to action, we felt we could make something happen.

World Trout Mission
The mission of World Trout is to identify the individuals and groups that protect native fish, to tell their story and to support their conservation efforts.

The stunning artwork that Prosek used to document trout around the globe for his books Trout of North America and Trout of the World offered an ideal opportunity to both raise awareness of threatened trout species as well as raise funds to help the groups helping those species. Patagonia set to work to use this artwork on a t-shirt to raise funds for grassroots groups working to protect trout and their habitat. Not only do the shirts raise awareness of the threatened trout species, but $5 from the sale of each shirt goes to grassroots activists working to protect trout species.

World Trout is an ongoing program that is not solely a Patagonia initiative. It is an avenue that all companies and interested parties should participate in to raise funds that directly combat declining wild trout populations. Winston Rod Company has joined the World Trout initiative and will begin providing t-shirts in late 2007.

Successes
Since its inception in January, 2005 (through March 31, 2007), anglers purchased 41,612 World Trout t-shirts and raised $208,060. World Trout supporters have also been seeking out these grassroots groups to donate funds and volunteer their time directly to the group.

We plan to continue the World Trout efforts to help provide funding to groups working to protect threatened fish and enhance natural habitats. You too can help support grassroots groups in your own local areas by volunteering your time and/or providing financial support.

Trout Unlimited Driftless Area TUDARE – tu.org/driftless
The Midwest Driftless Area Restoration project is a geographically focused, locally driven, consensus based effort to protect, restore and enhance riparian and aquatic habitat that had been lost due to farming practices in the early 1900s. (Driftless refers to a lack of residual vegetation, rock and dirt that was not left behind by receding glaciers.) The Midwest Driftless Area Restoration Effort includes 24,000 square miles of southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa western Wisconsin and Northwestern Illinois. Hundreds of miles of once stable clean coldwater spring creeks were inundated with soil and fine sediments by the farming practices of the 1900s. In many areas, 12 to 15 feet of soil has accumulated in valley floors. Water quality has been degraded, stream temperatures have increased, stream habitat lost, and the natural hydrologic cycle has been altered, with flooding becoming more frequent and severe.

This effort includes a broad partnership of federal, state and local governments, local landowners, academic institutions, sportsmen and conservation groups including 15 chapters of Trout Unlimited. The goal is to restore watersheds, reduce erosion and pollution, benefit fish and their habitat, and expand recreational opportunities. Thus far, the partners have restored sections of approximately 60 streams. The rivers have responded quickly and extraordinarily well to straightforward techniques to control erosion, reconnect the floodplain and improve instream habitat.

Current efforts focus on building alliances with agencies and organizations in this region; developing and executing restoration projects; prioritizing watersheds in the region based on restoration potential and resource benefit, and developing a staged strategy for planning and implementation.

The Golden Project – californiagoldentrout.org, caltrout.org, fedflyfishers.org, tucalifornia.org
California’s state fish dazzles with its beauty. But hybridization with rainbow trout and degradation of habitat has dramatically impacted this pure strain of fish. Trout Unlimited, Cal Trout and the Federation of Fly Fishers are assisting the California Department of Fish and Game and US Forest Service in a collaborative effort to protect and restore the California golden trout. The coalition is taking a four prong approach to this effort. They first locate and identify pure strains of golden trout populations throughout the Sierra. Then they seek to remove non-native and predatory fish from golden trout waters, restore riparian habitat damaged by cattle grazing, and conduct public education and outreach.

California Golden Trout is seeking volunteers to participate in restoration and monitoring activities in the Inyo and Sequoia National Forests and Sequoia-Kings canyon national parks in Southern Sierra. Check out the website to volunteer.

We will continue to support the Greenback Restoration Project, the Penobscot River Restoration Group, the Friends of Wild Salmon, the Balkan Trout Restoration Group and the Yellowstone Park Foundation along with the new groups for 2007.

World Trout Grassroots Recipients – 2006

Yellowstone Park Foundation – ypf.org
Yellowstone National Park is not only our first National Park, it is considered one of the world’s finest fly-fishing destinations. Arising within the past decade, these treasures are being negatively impacted by competition from predation by non-native species, introduction of whirling disease and New Zealand mudsnails, and prolonged drought are causing sharp declines in native cutthroat populations. Much of the Park’s aquatic staff have been necessarily repurposed to address these crises, leaving a large number of the Park’s fisheries untended.

To address this gap, the Yellowstone Park Foundation, a private nonprofit organization, had piloted the Fly Fishing Volunteer program in 2003. The YPF’s main efforts involve protection of the Park’s imperiled westslope and Yellowstone cutthroat trout by funding genetic research, scientific studies, restoration, raising public awareness and conservation projects. The Fly Fishing Volunteers program supplements the work of Park researchers and provides volunteer anglers with a sense of shared responsibility for Yellowstone National Park's fisheries. Through this program, which is supported by the sale of Patagonia’s World Trout t-shirts, volunteer anglers collect scale and fin clip samples, weigh, measure and photograph the fish they catch. In 2004 over 300 native Arctic grayling were tagged. In 2005 and 2006, volunteers participated in a study to measure the effects of barbed and barbless hooks and collected data on the presence of invasive and hybridized species. During the past three years, more than 220 volunteers have contributed approximately 3,320 hours to fisheries research in Yellowstone.

With support from Patagonia and other generous donors, the Yellowstone Park Foundation has raised $116,000 for this program during the past four years. The Foundation is committed to raising an additional $64,000 to ensure its continuation through the summer of 2009. Please contact the Yellowstone Park Foundation at 406-586-6303 or visit their web site at www.ypf.org if you would like to donate to, or volunteer for, the Fly Fishing Volunteers Program in Yellowstone. Help us ensure that angling forever remains an important core activity within our country’s first national park.

Friends of Wild Salmon – friendsofwildsalmon.ca
Friends of Wild Salmon is a diverse coalition of commercial anglers, sport anglers, First Nations (Native American groups), and concerned citizens working together to protect the Skeena River’s wild salmon and steelhead heritage. Their primary effort is working towards the common goal of protecting wild salmon and steelhead and the prevention of harmful fish farm expansion.

With open-net fish farms irreparably damaging wild fish stocks and the environment, Friends of Wild Salmon (FOWS) works to stop the development of these fish farms on rivers in British Columbia’s North Coast for the benefit of steelhead, salmon and other species. They provide education and outreach on open-net fish farming’s negative impacts on this river system; the spiritual, cultural and economic importance of wild salmon and steelhead; and support research to better understand the dynamics of this watershed.

Over $16,000 thus far has gone to obtain legal restrictions to fish farming in this watershed. FOWS has been successful since 2005 in keeping fish farms from being established in northern British Columbian waters. None have yet been constructed.

In the last two years FOWS has set up and maintained a Web site, sent out regular updates to our 1300 member database, organized displays at events around the region, supported an economic study on the value of Skeena wild salmon, supported a First Nations leader joining a delegation to Norway to attend a meeting an aquauculture company proposing fish farms in the Skeena watershed, supported Skeena First Nations coming together to declare the Skeena River fish farm free and produced brochures that have been widely disseminated.

Our last event was a second Salmon Summit on April 21. It was attended by people throughout the region and showed that opposition to fish farms remains strong two years after the initial Salmon Summit.

Balkan Trout Restoration Group – www.balkan-trout.com
With Patagonia’s commitment for a multi-year donation program, a formal organization was sanctioned through the Department of Animal Science at the University of Ljubljana. This University was instrumental in beginning the recovery effort for softmouth and marble trout. Joining them were the Fisheries Institute of Slovenia, Angling Club of Tolmin, along with scientists, grassroots groups and concerned collaborators from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia-Montenegro, Macedonia and Austria. Although seemingly a large program because of its university associations, it still remains a small, grassroots effort growing through people’s passion.

With the significant decline of these fish populations due to non-native trout introductions, environmental degradation and over fishing, this effort could not be more timely. Main efforts involve genetic research and ecological studies in order to establish environmental protection for endangered salmonids such as softmouth and marble trout. A second goal is to build public awareness through outreach and education.

The Vrlika River softmouth trout were genetically evaluated and found to be a healthy and stable population with relatively high genetic diversity. They did not detect any traces of hybridization with brown trout. These are with no doubt sensational results and we have already submitted them for a publication in one of scientific journals.

They are currently investigating the habitat of the Vrlika softmouth trout. This investigation aims to define the ecological parameters that provide healthy conditions for these trout. These parameters will then guide conservation efforts in the future. Thanks to Patagonia for providing the funding to make this happen.

World Trout Grassroots Recipients – 2005

This first year of World Trout our customers helped us raise $65,190 for these three groups.

Penobscot River Restoration Project – penobscotriver.org
This group has been working to restore self-sustaining populations of native sea-run fish. Their main tool is to open up more miles of traditional river spawning habitat by negotiating for dam removal while maintaining hydropower resources. Of note, the Penobscot Partners working on this project include broad support by the dam owners, power company, Native American tribes, State of Maine, Trout Unlimited and Atlantic Salmon federation. When successful, this project can serve as a template for other coalitions of groups to successfully remove dams and open traditional spawning grounds to native fish.

Over $21,000 of World Trout proceeds have helped the this group meet with key individuals, groups and agencies to leverage significant private and public funding. While they have excellent partner staff working with them in Washington, D.C. , it is far more effective for Mainers to tell their own story of why restoring the Penobscot is so crucial. The group was similarly able to meet with key private donors to personally secure their support for the project. They now have secured $12.5 million in public and private sources and $10 million pending in the FY2008 federal budget through the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. They have also worked to make sure that citizens, communities and others voiced their support for the key federal funding needed for success of the project.

They have also successfully helped to secure a $5 million community riverfront bond that will fund projects enabling communities to benefit from restored fisheries and rivers. If passed in November, Penobscot communities can apply for community-based or business improvements. Under discussion are such things as river education kiosks, riverside trails, paddling and fishing-related ventures among other ideas inspired by the prospect of a newly restored Penobscot. The Penobscot project is prompting communities to embrace the sustainable values of a restored river instead of allowing industries to monopolize the river.

The group also produced compelling brochures, photographs and maps to take full advantage of opportunities at fairs and community events, and in presentations to outdoors groups, businesses, and decision-makers. The Penobscot River Restoration Project worked with The Nature Conservancy to produce a very effective public funding brochure that has been in very high demand and is being used by agencies in their efforts to secure approval of the $10 million FY08 funding.

Greenback Conservation & Restoration Programs - Colorado Trout Unlimited – www.cotrout.org
The greenback cutthroat trout, once thought extinct, is now found in several locations in Colorado as the result of aggressive recovery efforts by a strong interagency partnership including Colorado Trout Unlimited (CTU), the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The species remains listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.

The Greenback Restoration Project has been working to reclaim waters for greenbacks, installing barriers to prevent non-native fish from invading greenback habitat, re-stocking greenbacks into recovery habitat, conducting volunteer monitoring projects, and assisting with public outreach and education. Through matching grants and partnerships, CTU has leveraged World Trout donation dollars into more than $35,000 additional cash and in-kind contributions – not to mention more than 4,000 volunteer hours on-the-ground – the equivalent of two full time employees working a full year.

Some of the major project areas that World Trout funding has been used in conjunction with Colorado Trout Unlimited include:

Barrier Installation
Helped the Colorado Division of Wildlife install fish barriers that will protect greenback habitat from non-natives on streams including Severy Creek, Graneros Creek, South Prong Hayden Creek and North Taylor Creek.

Water Quality Monitoring
Cheyenne Mountain Chapter has been working with the Colorado Division of Wildlife to monitor water quality for greenbacks in two key streams, Bear Creek and Severy Creek, on the flanks of Pikes Peak. Volunteers have collected monthly samples for analysis, and have generated data on water quality variables including nutrients, metals and E. coli. In both cases, the data have shown the streams to possess outstanding water quality – and that data is now serving as the basis for a petition to the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission to designate the streams as “outstanding waters”, providing a heightened level of regulatory protection so that the high quality of these streams is not degraded in the future.

Instream Flow Protection
Monitoring efforts are providing the data to support instream flow water rights filings for the creeks, which will protect flows in the creeks to ensure a healthy future for the greenback populations.

Habitat Improvement
Continue to install habitat improvements to create enhanced pool habitats and help provide a more secure refuge for the greenbacks.

Volunteer Monitoring
“Greenback Backers”. Volunteers with the Alpine Anglers TU Chapter assist fishery biologists with field sampling and data collection to track greenback populations and help identify threats to their continued survival, so that conservation efforts can be adjusted accordingly. This data helps to provide the basic information that biologists need to appropriately protect and manage greenback populations within the Park.

Genetic Testing
Assisted the Colorado Division of Wildlife in collecting and analyzing fin clips to determine genetics on potential populations. This data is valuable in helping to develop appropriate management and recovery efforts for the streams.

Outreach and Education
Helped the Rocky Mountain National Park Service prepare and distribute fish identification cards to help anglers know a greenback from a rainbow or brook trout, so they can be sure to release the natives. Volunteer patrols are helping at Lily Lake to make contact with anglers, advise them of the greenback recovery program, and assist them with proper catch-and-release technique.

World Trout funding was also used to re-issue a DVD version of the award-winning documentary “Incredible Journey of the Greenback Cutthroat Trout”, and distribute it to public libraries throughout Colorado as part of public educational efforts.

Obirame Restoration Group http://homepage3.nifty.com/huchen/Obirame/index-English.html
The searun huchen (called obirame in Japanese) is a very old, revered fish in Japan. But alarming declines in fish populations has stirred a group of local fishermen and residents to restore the health of the Shiribetsu River. A recent study of the river revealed that there were no searun huchen spawning beds or young fish. Efforts are underway to restore habitat, develop a hatchery program that preserves the genetic diversity of the fish and to build alliances with other groups working to restore huchen throughout Hokkaido.

Using the $21,730 funding from World Trout, Obirame Group is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the itou (an older more respectful Japanese name for the searun huchen) in the Shiribetsu River and surrounding watersheds. Thus far, this program has provided for successful breeding for pure strain Shiribetsu River adults and the subsequent care of juvenile itou. The program also includes additional monitoring of juvenile fish after they have been released into the river. It also furthers research efforts into healthy, growing fish.

Symposiums, forums and educational efforts for the community have been implemented and met with great success. The group has also created newsletters and a Web site along with Obirame Rescue Cards. These picture cards are handed out to river users and anglers so they can identify itou. And if caught, they can contact the Obirame no Kai Office.

Most significant in their successes has been the partnership with the government that is assisting in the protection and resource enhancement for this endangered fish. Currently, efforts are underway to modify dam like structures in order for spawning fish to reach the tributaries, thereby closing the loop for reproduction.