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Exploring the beautiful nature of California


California Nature: Trout


California is a large state, the 3rd largest in the U.S.A., and depending on where you go, can range broadly in habitat type and, also, climate. For this reason, California plays host to a huge variety of fish.

Fishes are aquatic vertebrates that have fins, gills and scales. Gills are the part of the respiratory system that provide surface area for exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide under water. Fish are ectotherms, commonly referred to as 'cold-blooded', meaning their temperature is regulated by the temperature of their environment. They have a range of diets, being herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores. Some fish reproduce by laying eggs, while others reproduce by bearing live young.

California fish species reside in freshwater and coastal/marine waters. Freshwater fish are fishes that live at least part, if not all, of their lives in bodies of fresh water with a salinity of less than .05%. Forty-one percent of all known fish species are found in freshwater.
The California golden trout is the state fish of California The California Golden Trout (Salmo agua- bonita) was designated the official state fish of California in 1947. The golden trout is native to California, originally found only in a few icy streams of the headwaters of the Kern River. Hatchery- raised fish have now extended the range of the golden trout to many waters at high elevation in the Sierra Nevadas and also other states. It has been called the "Fish from Heaven." Small and beautiful, distinctive and spectacular, the typical golden trout with its vibrant colors evolved over thousands of years adapting to the high country meadows of the Kern Plateau. Watching a golden trout can be pure delight. One moment it blends into the amber-hued stream bottom as a camouflaged shadow in the depths. The next instant it transforms onto gleaming gold and red turning and catching the sun -- a flash of pure beauty and joy! Scientist aren't sure why these fish exhibit such remarkable colors.

Golden trout are one of only a few species of fish native to the southern Sierra Nevada, originating in a small section of the Kern Plateau in the Golden Trout Wilderness.

The Plateau waters and the fish living in them became isolated by powerful geologic forces. Uplifting of the mountains, down cutting by the Kern River, erosion, volcanic activity, and glacier activity over the past 1.5 million years all played a role in sculpting this landscape. The combination of these forces left "hanging valleys," or basins with high waterfalls, a natural barrier to fish migration. The fish that survived in these cutoff high-elevation streams slowly evolved during the next 100,000 years into the unique golden trout we know today.

The first significant human contact with golden trout was probably made by small groups of Native American Indians. Other than a few creeks in the upper Kern River area where the golden trout lived, high-elevation waters in the southern Sierra Nevada remained fishless until the mid-1800's. At that time, prospectors, shepherds, loggers, and anglers exploring the Plateau fell under the spell of these beautiful trout and began transplanting them into lakes and streams outside of their native range.
a wide variety of trout can be found in California nature California is home to an amazing variety of native trout. Few places can boast as many types of rainbow, golden, redband, or cutthroat trout as the Golden State. Unfortunately, during the past 150 years, human activities have altered and damaged the health of the habitat that supports these trout and taken their toll on our natural heritage. Many of California's native trout are not as widespread as they once were. Our native trout streams and populations have undergone a great deal of change due to the tremendous growth of the Golden State.

Trout need healthy habitat in order to thrive. Trout require sufficient clean, cold, flowing water with suitable cover, food, holding areas, and spawning gravel. But just as important is the integrity of the land surrounding the water. Streamside trees and shrubs provide shade and cover, keep the water cool, and are a source of food or other nutrients for many forms of aquatic life associated with trout. In addition, the habitat must be suitable for all phases of the trout's life history.
Most of California's steelhead populations, and some inland native trout are now listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act. Several other native trout are being evaluated for listing. The bull trout which was once found in the upper McCloud River, is now extinct in California. Another specie, the well-known coastal rainbow trout is still present in much of its original range, but many wild runs of steelhead, the sea-running form of rainbow trout, are at risk of extinction.

California's native trout have the distinction of being both game fish and part of our natural heritage. A major goal of the California Heritage Trout Program is to restore depleted native trout populations and to implement post-restoration management policies that allow angling, compatible with native trout conservation.
 
 
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