Fish Stocking
A summary of research on the history and effects of non-native fish stocking in the High Sierra.
Introduction
One common perception is that high mountain lakes in protected areas such as wilderness or national parks are pristine and provide safe reserves for native plants and animals. However, many visitors to the High Sierra do not realize that most of the fish species found there are not native, and that recent research has demonstrated that introduced fish may have profound impacts on native biota. For example, the widespread introduction of non-native trout throughout the High Sierra has been linked to the decline of the mountain yellow-legged frog and other native species.
The following research summary was prepared by Dr. Roland A. Knapp of the University of California's Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory (excerpted from the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project: Final Report to Congress, Volume III, Centers for Water and Wildland Resources, University of California at Davis, 1996).
For further reading, a list of scientific papers published after 1996 is included after the research summary in the HTML version.
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