Genetic Management of the USFWS Lnfh Pilot Peak Strain Brood Stock of Lahontan Cutthroat Trout Used in Recovery Activities in the Western Basin Gmu

The USFWS Lahontan National Fish Hatchery (LNFH) brought the Pilot Peak strain of Lahontan Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi) into production for recovery activities in the western basin GMU in 1995.  Genetic analyses show this strain to be descendent from the historic LCT population endemic to the Truckee River watershed prior to its extirpation in the 1940s.  The LNFH brood stock was developed from individuals obtained from a naturalized LCT found in Morrison Creek in the Pilot Peak Mountains, Utah.  After the Morrison Creek trout were classified as Lahontan cutthroat trout by Hickman and Behnke (1979), a second population was established in neighboring Bettridge Creek.  In 2007, a wildfire destroyed the riparian corridor along Morrison Creek and led to the extirpation of the LCT population.  Given the loss of the Morrison Creek and reduction of the Bettridge Creek population an annual assessment of the extant genetic variation in the brood stock has been undertaken.  USFWS LNFH fisheries biologists together with UNR construct a LNFH brood stock mating matrix annually to maximize retention of the extant genetic variation in the Pilot Peak strain to improve recovery potential in the wild.