Oregon DFW to Treat Two Local Water Bodies to Remove Unwanted Bass, Bullhead, Bluegill
OutdoorHub 10.19.11
Hines, Ore. October 18, 2011 – The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will treat Stateline Reservoir and a Summit-area rock pit on Oct. 28 to remove unwanted fish species.
Stateline Reservoir, 15 mile north of Hines, will be treated with rotenone to remove illegally introduced bluegill and brown bullhead and restore a popular rainbow trout fishery. Rotenone is a plant base fish toxicant. The reservoir will be restocked with rainbow trout next spring. Normally, ODFW stocks the reservoir with fingerlings but next year legal-sized fish will be included to restart the fishery.
The gravel pit to be treated is one of several pits in Summit, but the only one filled with water from subsurface flows. It will be treated with rotenone to remove illegally stocked smallmouth bass. Biologists are concerned the bass could find their way into Summit Creek and eventually impact bull trout populations. Bull trout throughout the Malheur River system are list as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. The US Forest Service Prairie City Ranger District is considering breaching or filling in the pond to remove the threat permanently.
Both water bodies will be treated in October and signs will be posted at each site recommending anglers and others avoid the areas until spring 2012.
Rotenone, a plant substance, has been approved as a fish toxicant by the Environmental Protection Agency. At the concentrations used to kill fish, rotenone is not toxic to human, other mammals or birds. It breaks down completely in the environment and will not be detectable within weeks of treatment. For more information about rotenone to the ODFW website at http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/diamond_lake/FAQs.asp.
