No Walleye Stocking For Moore Reservoir

Vermont Fish & Wildlife and New Hampshire Fish & Game opt to not stock walleye into Moore Reservoir

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department held a public informational meeting on Monday night in Littleton, NH, to update interested anglers on a proposal to stock walleye into Moore Reservoir.

In the proposal, walleye populations would be created in Moore Reservoir through direct stocking, and in Comerford and McIndoes reservoirs through the downstream drift of juveniles. Moore Reservoir is an impoundment on the Connecticut River in the communities of Littleton and Dalton, New Hampshire, and Waterford and Concord, Vermont. Comerford and McIndoes reservoirs are immediately downstream of Moore Reservoir.

Fisheries biologists from both agencies presented a review of the initial stocking proposal and shared biological data collected during the past three years to investigate angler concerns over the potential impact of walleye on wild trout. The Agencies ultimately made public their decision to not stock walleye into any of the three reservoirs.

“While these reservoirs contain the habitat and forage base necessary to sustain a quality walleye fishery, we found that the trout fishery in McIndoes Reservoir consists primarily of wild fish,” said Jud Kratzer, fisheries biologist with Vermont Fish & Wildlife. “Although walleye would likely not have an impact on hatchery trout, studies have shown that walleye have the potential to eat smaller juvenile wild trout and may reduce their abundance. Ultimately, we did not feel comfortable creating a new fishery that could have the potential to impact a unique, high quality wild trout fishery.”

“We listened to angler concerns regarding potential impacts of walleye on wild trout and performed field studies to determine the contribution of wild trout to the fisheries in these reservoirs,” added Gabe Gries, fisheries biologist with New Hampshire Fish & Game. “Although all anglers may not agree with the outcome, we feel we did our due diligence by investigating angler concerns and reviewing available studies related to walleye introductions prior to making our decision.”