At their Dec. 23 meeting, the Fish & Boat Board of Commissioners took the first steps necessary to raise the minimum size for trout from 7 inches to 9 inches, a proposal first mentioned in the latest strategic plan. Many anglers will see this as a sign that future stocked trout will be larger, but that is not part of the plan.

Dave Nihart, chief of the Fisheries Management Division, briefed commissioners on the plan to increase the minimum legal size for trout. But the reason is not to provide larger trout; it is to save native ones. According to Nihart, the commission believes that increasing the size limit will provide almost 100% protection for wild brook trout from harvest.

Based upon recent stream surveys on over 2,900 streams and 200,000 samplings of wild brook trout, less than 7% of those fish were greater than 7 inches. However, less than 1% of sampled wild brook trout exceeded 9 inches. Based on the statistics, nearly 100% of wild brook trout would be protected from harvest by a 2-inch increase in the minimum legal size limit.

But wouldn’t this also mean that the commission would need to raise bigger trout? No, not according to how trout are currently being raised. In my over 25 years with the commission, I heard all the time how anglers felt the stocked trout were “too small” or “not even legal.” My own observations refuted these claims, and Commission data support these observations. According to Nihart, “all the fish coming out of our hatcheries and stocked in our stocked trout waters are already greater than 9 inches in length.” Nihart further supported this claim with the following figures:

≤ Approximately 3.2 million trout are stocked each season.

≤ 92% of stocked trout are between 11 and 13.9 inches in length

≤ 3% of stocked trout are greater than 14 inches

≤ 5% of stocked trout are between 9 and 10.9 inches

Although a 9-inch wild brook trout would be approximately 4 years old, the commission can achieve better results through decades of experience in breeding, feeding, and water-quality control at the hatcheries. However, one area where an increased size limit could be a complication is the cooperative nurseries. These nurseries, commonly referred to as co-ops, are owned by sportsmen’s clubs, conservation groups, and similar non-governmental organizations, and raise approximately 1 million trout per season. These trout are then stocked in public waters to supplement commission stocks, sometimes in waters that the commission cannot stock.

Although the majority of co-ops regularly produce trout in excess of the proposed minimum of 9 inches, Nihart did admit that this does not mean all co-ops are doing so. According to Nihart, approximately 15% of the in-season trout stocked by these co-ops are less than 9 inches, something that would need to be addressed if the proposal is successful. The plan is to address these shortcomings by making adjustments to operational procedures such as feeding schedules, hatchery populations and water quality at the co-ops.