'State of the Lake' update is Feb 10

IFG: Programs could collapse lake trout population in 5 years

SANDPOINT — Lake Pend Oreille's lake trout population will collapse within five years if angler incentive and netting programs both continue, according to the Idaho Department of Fish & Game.

Fish & Game projects the lake trout population won't collapse for another 50 years if angler incentives only or netting only is utilized. The department contends collapsing Pend Oreille's lake trout population is the only way kokanee numbers can recover.

Those theories and other related matters will be considered when Fish & Game gives its "State of the Lake" update on Saturday, Feb. 10. The meeting lasts from 8 a.m. to noon at Sandpoint Community Hall.

Anybody interested in the lake's fishery is encouraged to attend. Fish & Game will provide refreshments.

The meeting includes and question-and-answer session.

Kokanee numbers are continuing to decline and survival of juvenile kokanee is at an all time low due to predation from lake trout and rainbow trout, Fish & Game said. An angler incentive program, in addition to trap and gill netting have resulted in significant reductions in the lake trout population.

Internationally recognized lake trout expert, Mike Hansen, has been working with fishery managers to assess kokanee recovery efforts and constructed a lake trout population model for Lake Pend Oreille.

The total number of kokanee fry in the lake in 2006 was relatively high and 9.3 million eyed kokanee eggs are currently being hatched at the Cabinet Gorge Hatchery for release as fry next summer.

Although the healthy egg take has bought time for the kokanee population, restoration opportunities will be lost unless Pend Oreille's lake and rainbow trout populations are significantly reduced, fishery managers say.