“Protect Rhode Island Brook Trout” To Advocate On Opening Day

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When: Saturday, April 8 from 10 AM to 2 PM
Where: Check station adjacent to the Wood River just off RT 165 in Exeter
What: Protect Rhode Island Brook Trout will have a table set up to educate and advocate for native Brook Trout.
Why: Native brook trout need cold water and freedom from competition from stocked non-native trout species.

April 8 is the opening day of trout fishing season in Rhode Island and as they did last year, Protect Rhode Island Brook Trout (PRIBT) will be stationed at the most visited spot in the upper Wood River watershed to publicize and promote the adoption by Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) of PRIBT’s proposal for the cessation of stocking at this important native brook trout habitat.

This year the proposal to cease stocking at this location has the additional support of Trout Unlimited, the Wood/Pawcatuck Watershed Association, and the Wood-Pawcatuck Wild and Scenic Rivers Stewardship Council.

Stop by and spend some time with members of their organization and learn what needs to be done to protect this beautiful native species.

The mission of Protect Rhode Island Brook Trout (PRIBT) is “preserving, protecting, and restoring wild brook trout populations in Rhode Island.” This is a task, that at a minimum, requires protecting cold water streams and other important habitats and controlling non-native species. For opening day, DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife  will stock as many as 80,000 hatchery-raised non-native rainbow, brook, golden rainbow, and brown trout in waterways across the state, including in the important and fragile habitat of the upper Wood River watershed. Dumping non-native species is a direct threat to the native brook trout that has been designated as a species of “Greatest Conservation Need.”

If you’d like to learn more, stop by the check station adjacent to the Wood River just off RT 165 in Exeter on April 8 to speak with members of PRIBT or you can connect with their group on Facebook.

The banner image is a photo of a native Brook Trout. There is a bit of a human hand in the upper right for scale. Thanks to PRIBT for the photograph. Charlestown has some cold water streams still that are tributary to the Pawcatuck River. Protecting the forests that surround these streams is critical to keeping their water cold.