Earlier this month, hundreds of dead trout floated through the fly fishing only section of Maryland’s Beaver Creek. Authorities have yet to pinpoint the ultimate cause, but heavy rainfall over heavy-use agricultural and industrial lands bordering the stream is likely a significant part of the picture. The same environment that produces fertile spring creeks filled with fat trout also makes for prized farmland, mining opportunities, and even the kind of aesthetic backdrop that estate developers covet. Even with statute upon statute from the EPA and other agencies, even the most well-buffered stream can be impacted. Torrential rainfall only exacerbates the problem.
This is a story that Mid Atlantic anglers have heard before. Trout in a famous spring creek 70 miles to the north were virtually wiped out in the early 80’s. Pennsylvania’s Letort Spring Run was the jewel of the Cumberland Valley and a darling of fly fishing magazines. A watercress farm in the headwaters applied an insecticide that eliminated over 90% of fish and insect life downstream.
It is something that the angler, conservationist, or anyone sensitive to our stewardship of the planet hates to see. Decades of protection can be undone by one mistake, one thoughtless individual, or one unexplainable event.
Is there hope for Beaver Creek?
The short answer is yes. While it has never returned to being the kind of stream it was in the 1950’s, the Letort is a quality fishery once more. Virginia’s South River changed color daily as DuPont dumped chemicals into the water in the early 20th century. Now, trophy trout are caught in downtown Waynesboro. Another Cumberland County, Pennsylvania river, Big Spring, suffered from hatchery effluent while stocked trout gave the illusion of health. Once the hatchery was shut down there was an immediate dip in the catch rates, but less that twenty years later the wild trout fishery is on the rise.
While not discounting the frustration of today, it is important to remember that even the fragile spring creeks are resilient. Plants will come back. Bugs will come back. Trout will come back. With cooperative help from invested anglers, concerned community members, and taxpayer-funded governing agencies the natural process can be accelerated.
Most encouraging to the situation on Beaver Creek is the quick action taken by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. While the bulk of the stream, including the catch and release/fly fishing only stretch, was was impacted by the fish kill, there uppermost regions seemed to avoid the problem. The DNR is proposing an immediate review of the regulations, eliminating the harvest of any brown trout throughout the creek. In the words of the department, “The most productive spawning and juvenile nursery habitat occurs within the Put and Take Trout Fishing Area. Allowing the harvest of the few remaining or transplanted adult brown trout would limit the ability of the population to recover.”
Taking stocked rainbows would still be allowed. This fishing, and the inevitable brown trout bycatch, is something that many will certainly see as detrimental to the stream’s recovery. But before all the dust settles, the state is acting in a direction that reflects common sense and achievable long-term goals.
Caring for our fisheries, especially special places like spring creeks, goes hand-in-hand with angling itself. So often, years of proactive work is overshadowed by the toll of reactive remediation. Keeping in mind the success stories of similar streams ought to be an encouragement; while always staying vigilant.
Want to have your voice heard by the Maryland DNR? Head over to their current proposal page here.