American Fisheries Society Changes to Cutthroat Classification

The American Fisheries Society recently published their 8th Edition of the Common and Scientific Names of Fisheries from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, which contains a major change to the classification of Cutthroat Trout. This instead of a single species, this change elevates the four major lineages of Cutthroat Trout first identified by Robert Behnke to four full species. These species are:

Coastal Cutthroat Cutthroat Trout - Oncorhynchus clarkii

Westslope Cutthroat Trout - Oncorhynchus lewisi

Lahontan Cutthroat Trout - Oncorhynchus henshawi 

Rocky Mountain Cutthroat - Oncorhynchus virginalis

These changes were first proposed back in 2018 in the book Cutthroat Trout: Evolutionary Biology and Taxonomy, but what the current change to Cutthroat Trout classification remains silent on is the classification of Cutthroat subspecies. While the tradition classification proposed by Robert Behnke recognizes 14 subspecies of Cutthroat Trout, the one proposed based on genetics in the 2018 book would expand that number to 25. My website will continue to follow the proposed 2018 classification, which includes the species now formally recognized by AFS and only time will tell if the subspecies classifis official recognized by the American Fisheries Society in the future.

Western Native Trout Challenge

The Western Native Trout Initiative (WNTI) was founded in 2006 to support the conservation of native trout across the Western United States. In 2019, the WNTI launched Western Native Trout Challenge with several different tiers (Master, Advance and Expert) that award anglers for catching up to 18 varieties of native trout across 12 western states. 92% of proceeds from the program go to supporting habitat /conservation projects with direct benefits for native trout across the west, providing anglers with a fun way to make a difference for these fish.

I had not initially planned on attempting the challenge as I had already caught most of the fish recognize by the challenge prior to 2019. However, after a year of native trout hunting it turned out that I had enough trout to submit for the Expert level, in which an angler needs to catch 6 varieties of native trout across 4 states. Since I had qualified for the program  I decided I might as well go for it. 

See my qualifying fish below:

Eagle Lake Rainbow Trout - California

"Interior Redband Trout" - Oregon

Coastal Cutthroat Trout - Washington

Bull Trout - Idaho

Westslope Cutthroat Trout - Idaho

Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout - New Mexico

Upon submitting photographs of their qualifying fish, anglers receive different rewards depending on the level of the program completed. I completed the "Expert Caster" level, which comes with a certificate and a hat, with the first 100 completers getting a unique "First 100" hat. 

My Expert Caster Certificate and "First 100" hat.

All in all, the Western Native Trout Challenge is a great program, that supports crucial conservation projects across the west. If you are interested in taking part in the challenge, you can sign up here.

The Evergreen State Salmonid Slam

Washington State has twelve species/ subspecies of native salmonids. Over the last weekend I caught my the twelfth and final species of native salmonid that I hadn't yet encountered in Washington State

Pacific Salmon

All five species of North American Pacific Salmon are native to Washington State.

Chinook Salmon: Puget Sound

Coho Salmon: Puget Sound

Chum Salmon: Puget Sound

Sockeye Salmon: Olympic Peninsula

Pink Salmon: Puget Sound

Rainbow Trout

Two subspecies of Rainbow/ Redband trout are native to the state of Washington.

Coastal Rainbow Trout: Olympic Peninsula

Columbia Basin Redband: Yakima River watershed

Cutthroat Trout

There are two subspecies of these fish native to Washington.

Coastal Cutthroat: Puget Sound

Westslope Cutthroat: Yakima River watershed

Char

A lot of fish in Washington like to come in twos and as such there are two species of Char native to Washington State, although genetic testing is typically needed to tell them apart. Southern Dolly Varden the rarer of the two are only found in the few isolated stream resident populations above barrier falls.

Bull Trout: Olympic Peninsula

Southern Dolly Varden: Olympic Peninsula

Other Salmonids

The only other salmonid native to Washington are the Mountain Whitefish, a close relative of trout, salmon and char.

Mountain Whitefish: Olympic Peninsula

Unfortunately unlike Wyoming and California, Washington does not have an official program to recognize anglers for catching the state's native salmonids. The next step of my quest in Washington would be to complete the Washington "Anadromous Challenge". In other words to catch all of the native salmonids in their anadromous form. To complete this I still need catch some Coastal Steelhead and Columbia Basin Redband Steelhead and sea-run Bull Trout. I will have to save that one for another time though....