The Sea-Run Brook Trout Coalition is a non-profit
organization established for the purpose of
protecting and restoring sea-run brook trout
populations and the coastal watersheds that they
depend upon

Founded in 2011
Board of Directors
Michael Hopper, President
Warren Winders, Co-Founder
Geoffrey Day, Co-Founder
Prudy Burt, MV Coordinator
Dwayne Shaw, Maine Coordinator

Scientific Advisory Committee
Andrew Danylchuk, Umass Amherst
Andrew Whiteley, Umass Amherst
Ben Letcher, US GS, Turner’s Falls
Steven Hurley, Mass Wildlife
Tim Purinton, Mass DER
Brendan Annett, Buzzards Bay Coalition

Present SRBTC Projects
Stream Monitoring in:
Connecticut
Long Island, NY
Martha’s Vineyard
Microchemical Analysis in Maine
Fresh Brook Restoration, South Wellfleet
Common Garden Experiment, Umass

Long Term Objectives
Coordination with TU National Assessment
Full Time Restoration Coordinator
Executive Director
Interpretive and Biological Center

Brook Trout
Salvelinus fontinalis
Our native trout species
Actually a charr! (brook charr)
Coldwater (<70 F) habitat is critical
Preferred Temperature 52 to 56 F

YOY Brook Trout - September
Average Growth of Massachusetts Stream
Brook Trout
• Age 1 - 4 inches
• Age 2 - 6 inches
• Age 3 – 9 inches

Brook Trout spawning area in the Quashnet River
In areas with springs and seeps, at edge of steep slopes

Wild Brook Trout Streams of
Massachusetts
• Brook Trout
Populations greatly
reduced in abundance
in Eastern
Massachusetts

Massachusetts Dams (2,645+)
•Trap Sediment
•Block Fish Passage
•Warm water
•Safety Issues

Abundant Marine Food Resources Lead To
Excellent Growth Rates And A Large Size
Silvery sheen (April salter)

Westport DMF Fyke Net Catch
2012

Southeastern Massachusetts was a famous
brook trout fishing destination
Daniel WebsterDr. Jerome V.C. Smith
John Rowe
Theodore Lyman III President Grover Cleveland

The Monument and Scusset
Rivers are now known as
the Cape Cod Canal

Trout are Collected by Pulsed DC Electrofishing
using a Smith-Root Backpack Electrofisher

Wild Brook Trout Streams of
Southeastern Massachusetts

Tiny Streams Can Have Wild Brook
Trout

Quashnet River Trout Inventory Sections 1-4
0
50
100
150
200
250
1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007
Brook
Brown
Quashnet River Trout
Inventory

Quashnet River Wild Brook Trout
Photo by Bob Golder

Genetic research indicated
brook trout in each salter
stream different from each
other and very different
from Sandwich hatchery
strain (Annett 2005)
Annett, Brendan J. 2005. Conservation genetics of
remnant anadromous brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis,
populations at the southern limit of their distribution:
population structure and impacts of historic stocking.
M.A. Thesis. Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.
52 pp.
Annett, Brendan, Gabriele Gerlach, Timothy L. King and Andrew R. Whiteley.
2012. Conservation Genetics of Remnant Coastal Brook Trout Populations
at the Southern Limit of Their Distribution: Population Structure and Effects
of Stocking. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society141(5):1399-1410.

PIT Tags
(Passive Integrated Transponder)
• Allow Unique ID
• 50 year life span
• Glass encapsulated
• Small, low impact on
fish
• Biomark
TX1411SST, 134.2
Khz, 12.50 mm x 2.07
mm, 0.102 g)
• Relatively low cost
($2.50 -5.00 each)

Injected
into
Abdominal
Cavity

Wanding with
hand-held
antenna most
useful for
finding
dropped out
tags

Fran Smith and Brendan Annett installing
Quashnet Antennas underneath Route 28
November 2007

Quashnet River
Stationary PIT Antennas
Placed November 5,
2007
•Tag #
•Date/Time
•Travel
•Direction
• Weekly
Battery
Changes- at head of tide
- double antenna System

Tag Number
Tag
Number
Read
and
Date
and
Time

Childs and
Quashnet River
Antennas
Childs River Antenna
Quashnet River Antennas 1 and 2
Quashnet River Antenna 2.5
Quashnet River Antenna 3

Three PIT Antennas now
Placed at Red Brook

SE Mass PIT Antenna Hits
(And Number of Tagged Fish Detected)
River
(# antennas)
start date
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total
(includes
2013 to date)
Quashnet
(2) Nov 2007
+
(1) June 2009
542
(53)
2,285
(93)
8,311
(190)
5,069
(241)
9,632
(224)
12,310
(264)
39,471
(864)
Red Brook
(2) Nov. 2008
+
(1) July 2012
775
(47)
5,919
(100)
11,226
(139)
6,199
(154)
15,917
(384)
40,936
(753)
Childs
(1) June 2010
4,657
(62)
1,013
(26)
2,608
(37)
8,379
(139)

A wild brook trout from the Quashnet River
Tagged 09/19/2007 -165 mm (2006
yearclass)
• Recaptured 09/24/2008 - 197 mm
• Recaptured 09/21/2010 - 347 mm
• 727 Days at Large, 15 antenna hits
between 09/26/2009 and
09/19/2010
• Went to tidewater once July 30 to
31, 2010
Largest recaptured PIT tagged
brook trout from the Quashnet River
09/21/2010
Tag# 985.121003981009

Childs River
Falmouth/Mashpee
Brook Trout Restoration
• September 2006
Surveys
• No brook trout
reproduction but
occasional
wanderers
• Coldwater habitat
seemed to be
suitable
• Lacked brook trout
broodstock

 19 trout moved
 PIT tagged
 Adult fish (145 - 249 mm)
 Included 3 recaptured trout
Brook Trout Transplantation to Childs River
From Quashnet River June 4, 2008
2nd
Transplant
May 21, 2009 - 29 Brook Trout
(145-249 mm ) 3 Recaps
Third Transplant
May 18, 2010 - 37 Brook Trout
(148-295 mm) 6 Recaps

Brook Trout Reproduction
Confirmed by Electrofishing in
March 2009
• 7 young-of-year brook
trout
• Mean length = 35 mm
(range 32 – 39 mm)
Successful
reproduction
documented
each year
from
spawning in
2008-2012

Childs River Brook Trout
September 27, 2011

June to November 2008
April 2009 to July 2009
Transplanted
June 2008
Quashnet River
Route 28 Antennas
Brook Trout Homing MovementBrook Trout Homing Movement
#7245232 - 174 mm#7245232 - 174 mm
• Released
into Childs
River June
4, 2008
• Headed
upstream
on
Quashnet
River
11/25/08
• Several
detections
in March
and April
2009 at
Route 28
• Located
back in
Childs on
July 27,
2009!
• One fish travelled
from Quashnet
River to Childs river
between Nov 2011
and June 2012
• Another fish
travelled from Childs
to Quashnet River
(Tagged Sept 2009,
detected Nov 2009
in Quashnet)

Project Partners and
Funding
Council and TU National $ 65,000
Red Brook Fund $ 50,000
Genetic (Brendan Annett) $ 10,000
American Rivers $ 250,000
AD Makepeace (site work) $ 50,000
DER $ 150,000
SEMATU $ 8,000
Embrace-A Stream $ 16,000
CWRP $ 5,000
MET $ 45,000
USFWS $ 20,000
SRBTC/Patagonia $ 12,000
CC TU $ 3,000
TU/NOAA $ 25,000
Manomet Center $ 20,000
GBTU $ 15,000
Total $ 744,000

Results X 10
418 acre Red Brook WMA $ 400,000
Hal Lyman bequest to TTOR $ 200,000
Red Brook Headwaters purchase $ 3,500,000
Purchase 597 acres AD
Makepeace $ 2,800,000
TOTAL TO DATE $ 6,900,000

SRBTC Strategic Partners

Thank You
to GBTU and MA DFW
• This presentation was presented
in Jan 2015 at the Greater Boston
Chapter of Trout Unlimited
• Many of these slides were
originally prepared by Steve
Hurley, Southeast District
Fisheries Manager, Mass Division
of Fish and Wildlife

Questions?