The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

I slid the fish from the water and turned it in the fading light to catch the changing colors. There was an almost neon, iridescent purple where the red side stripe should have been. That color on something man-made would have been incredibly gaudy, but the fish wore it well. When I set him back I was very careful. I hoped he could feel the kindness and gentleness in my touch.

"Thanks," I whispered softly as he shot away back into the river's current.

That fish gave me pause to think about what a lucky man I really am. In that week alone I had caught and released six different species or strains of native trout. That's a major accomplishment; many fisherman here in Oregon don't fully appreciate the value of the incredible resources that we have. For many reasons native fishes have done better here than in most other parts of the country. In the east, or even in the Rocky Mountain West anglers are not quite so lucky; true natives are rare.

Granted, there are many good fishing opportunities in other parts of the country, but not for natives. Around the turn of the century, when we first began to gain a rudimentary understanding of the science of fisheries management, and well before we recognized the consequences of our actions, biologists undertook to "fix" the fisheries of this country - most of which where not broken.

"These brook trout are nice," the biologists said, "but wouldn't brown trout be better here?"

The brown trout were added. Soon the brooks where gone.

The biologists had made value judgments about things they did not know and understand. We're still doing it today. There is a widespread tendency to create fisheries in our image of how they should be rather than the way nature has made them.

A great example here in the Northwest is what has happened to our steelhead and salmon. The dams were put in before we really knew how complex the natural systems were. We depended on non-native hatchery programs to fix the problems. The results are easy to see. The runs are crashing and more fish are being listed almost daily.

There are examples of places where non-native fisheries have worked out well. One good example close to home is the non-native Steelhead fishery on our own Deschutes river. I'll be the first to say I like it, but fishing it is like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Non-native programs have a way of caving in years later when unseen consequences develop.

In Montana, whirling disease, which is destroying the rainbow trout fishery, is a hatchery product, attacking a non-native fishery.

As more and more fish populations are destroyed, it is increasingly important to value the remaining native fisheries we have. Support the programs that maintain and protect them. The native fish are our best hope for the future - and once they are gone they're gone.

While you can't always tell just by holding a fish in your hand if it's native or a wild fish from a hatchery stock, there is a difference. It's a feeling more than anything tangible. It's an oddly colored rainbow that honors you by taking your fly and then gives you that fleeting moment to admire it. Such a fish says, "I am a perfect creature in a perfect place. I cannot be equaled by man."