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Mammoth Is Interesting

The numbers of hatchery trout in Mono County dropped from 465,700 last season to just 389,000 this year, and due to the effects of the New Zealand Mud Snail in the Hot Creek Hatchery, the number of lakes that were stocked dropped from more than 30 to just six.

Bruce Kinney, the deputy regional manager for the California Department of Fish and Game, said, however, that "poundage" in the Mammoth Lakes Basin remains the same as last season, meaning that the fish are fewer, but bigger.

Those fish were brought in from other hatcheries.

Kinney made his remarks at a Mammoth Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 5.

Councilmember Neil McCarroll, who is a member of the county's Fishing Commission, started the discussion with a scathing assessment of the trout situation here.

"Most of the fish went to Crowley Lake and the Upper Owens River," McCarroll said. "Other waters were drastically cut. I think Fish and Game owes Mammoth and Mono County an explanation. Clearly this has affected our tourist numbers."

Last year, the tiny snail, an invasive species that destroys trout habitat, was discovered in the Hot Creek Hatchery waters. The Hot Creek Hatchery is situated just south of Mammoth. State regulations prevent fish from Hot Creek Hatchery being placed in waters that so far have not shown evidence of the snail.

So far, there is no known method to eradicate the snails.

"It's a tremendous job adjusting to the situation," Kinney said.

He said Fish and Game crews from Sacramento are in Mono County and Mammoth this month, testing waters in advance of next year's fishing season. He said this is the time of year that New Zealand Mud Snails are at their most prolific.