“We now have few instruments to reply rapidly to low move circumstances,” mentioned Eileen Ryce, Fisheries Bureau chief for the company. “Nonetheless, we will modify fishing rules to scale back stress throughout vital time intervals.”

Up to now, nevertheless, FWP has carried out rules on solely two of the toughest hit rivers: the Large Gap and Beaverhead. There, restrictions on fishing within the fall to guard brown trout spawning beds had been carried out final yr. On the seven different rivers, comparable motion doesn’t appear warranted, FWP determined.

For instance, FWP mentioned such fishing season closures to guard spawning trout “wouldn’t be anticipated to have a inhabitants scale impact” on the Jefferson, Stillwater, Shields, Madison, Yellowstone, Boulder (a tributary to the Jefferson River) and Ruby rivers.

Fishing restrictions, similar to no bait fishing, mandating catch-and-release fishing, or limiting angling to fly fishing solely, had been additionally dominated out as unlikely to halt the brown trout decline. A hoot-owl closure, which bans fishing from 2 p.m. to midnight, was carried out in 2020 on the decrease Madison River and can be continued to see if it has any helpful impact.

“Definitely I don’t suppose fishing rules are going to resolve a water amount challenge, however they didn’t do any hurt,” Clayton Elliott, of Montana Trout Limitless, advised the members of the Environmental High quality Council.

A day after the EQC listening to, a coalition of conservation teams, fishing companies and residents submitted a petition to Gov. Greg Gianforte asking him to “assemble a multi-agency, interdisciplinary Chilly Water Fisheries Process Pressure to deal with the challenges going through Montana’s chilly water fisheries.” The petition was introduced in a Wednesday information launch from the Higher Missouri Waterkeeper.

“Montana’s world-class waterways and blue-ribbon fisheries deserve particular consideration” mentioned Man Alsentzer, Waterkeeper govt director, within the assertion. “They’re the lifeblood of our outside economic system, recreation life, and the supply of consuming water for 1000’s of Montanans.”

Higher Missouri Waterkeeper was additionally within the information not too long ago for its lawsuit in opposition to the Environmental Safety Company, looking for to compel the federal company to make the Montana Division of Environmental High quality roll again its legislatively carried out numeric water high quality requirements.

The nonprofit additionally faulted Gianforte for refusing to let FWP use its senior water rights on the Shields and Smith rivers final July in an try to maintain water within the streams. The state of affairs was revealed in a Missoula Present story this April.

In a letter written by Gianforte to FWP Director Hank Worsech, the governor mentioned FWP’s water request would “present questionable, if any, measurable profit” to the rivers. The Missoula Present obtained the letter by a Freedom of Info Act request.

“From spring fish die-offs, summer time warmth waves and unprecedented drought circumstances, to report low flows and traditionally low fish counts with declining brown trout populations mixed with elevated improvement and fishing stress, Montana’s world-class chilly water fisheries are dwindling away, struggling loss of life by a thousand cuts,” the petitioners wrote to the governor.

Sen. Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, requested Ryce in the course of the EQC assembly if FWP had thought of another concepts to cope with low flows. Ryce mentioned some landowners, together with these on the Large Gap River concerned in a cooperative settlement, are leaving water in rivers and streams somewhat than utilizing their allotted water proper. She mentioned the company can be seeking to lease water rights and dealing with dam operators on storage as attainable options.

“The instruments we’ve got immediately out there to us are restricted, and so they typically do take fairly a while to get in place,” she mentioned. “The most effective software we’ve got out there is de facto working very intently with the water customers to collectively attempt to go away extra water within the streams.”

NorthWestern Power introduced in April that it could be decreasing flows into the Madison River from its Hebgen Dam to protect water throughout one other predicted dry summer time and under common spring runoff.

“Saving this water to complement flows on the Madison River in the course of the warmth of the summer time will assist to scale back stress on fish from elevated water temperatures,” mentioned Andy Welch, NorthWestern Power supervisor of Hydro License Compliance, in a press release.

Hebgen companies complained to the Federal Power Regulatory Fee that NorthWestern didn’t maintain its obligated quantity of water within the reservoir final summer time, hurting their companies attributable to docks and boat launches being left dry. FERC oversees dam operations. A NorthWestern official mentioned the reservoir’s lake ranges are unlikely to enhance this summer time.

“This can be one other extraordinarily difficult yr with out sufficient water to satisfy the wants of all of the Madison River Basin customers,” mentioned Jeremy Clotfelter, NorthWestern Power director of Hydro Operations. “I totally anticipate that we won’t be able to take care of Hebgen Reservoir recreation elevations once more this summer time.”

A examine launched final yr confirmed about 87% of the Higher Missouri River Basin’s water is utilized by agriculture with one other 12% evaporating from reservoirs. The Madison, Jefferson and Gallatin rivers are the primary higher basin streams that be a part of to type the Missouri River.

For a complete view of the brown trout inhabitants decline, FWP launched a collaborative examine with the U.S. Geological Survey final yr. The analysis checked out 14 completely different rivers over the previous 30 years, using monitoring information to find out the extent and reason for the fishes’ decline.

“We established a number of rivers had been displaying brown trout declines with the first driver being declining streamflows,” Ryce mentioned. “Different potential causes had been investigated, together with fish pathogens. Indicators of systemic stress had been recognized within the fish, which could possibly be attributed to low flows, excessive temperatures, and/or different stress occasions together with angling stress. However the declines weren’t attributed to a selected or novel pathogen, similar to within the case of whirling illness within the mid to late ‘90s.”

A whirling illness outbreak hammered the Madison River and different streams, primarily affecting rainbow and native cutthroat trout.

Research are persevering with with Montana State College researchers to “develop fashions utilizing pure and angler-induced mortality which could possibly be used to tell administration adjustments as a part of an adaptive administration strategy,” Ryce added.

The primary signal that Montana’s rivers could also be going through issues past the management of fishing rules arose in 2016. That’s when proliferative kidney illness was recognized as the reason for loss of life for what would later be estimated at tens of 1000’s of fish alongside about 180 miles of the Yellowstone River, between Gardiner and Billings. The die-off led to a short lived closure of the river to all recreation and an estimated $500,000 financial loss to the area.

Fish kills on the Yellowstone had been reported once more in August 2017 and in 2020, however had been extra restricted in dimension, so no river closure was enacted. Mountain whitefish, that are extra delicate, have died in bigger numbers than trout.

Final yr, a fish kill in a 10-mile stretch under Ennis Reservoir on the Madison River was investigated. Once more, the die-off was predominantly amongst whitefish, with 800 useless in comparison with 20 trout. Though some fish had irritated gills, the reason for the die-off was by no means decided.

Final yr, low water prompted FWP to shut 14 miles of the Ruby River to fishing in Might. Company fish surveys have proven the stream’s brown trout inhabitants dropping from 1,500 per mile to historic lows of 600-700 within the higher tail waters, the Montana Commonplace reported. The Beaverhead River has seen its brown trout numbers decline from 2,000 to 1,000. On the Large Gap’s hottest part close to Melrose, grownup brown trout numbers have fallen from 1,800 to 400 prior to now six years, the Commonplace reported.

The decrease fish numbers come as extra anglers are fishing, elevating questions on whether or not restrictive catch-and-release rules would assist. FWP’s Fisheries chief, Ryce, mentioned the division doesn’t have fatality figures from catch-and-release, however stress on the fish might be exacerbated by hotter waters and the way typically a fish is caught. For essentially the most half, nevertheless, the company doesn’t attribute the decline in fish numbers to individuals catching and retaining fish for consumption.

Yearly, there are greater than 3 million angler days unfold throughout Montana, FWP reported on its web site. An angler day is one angler fishing for a part of at some point. The state’s fishing economic system is valued at greater than $900 million.

“There’s lots of concern from anglers and people within the well being of these rivers,” mentioned Elliott, of Montana Trout Limitless. “The correlation with low flows is actually the strongest indicator of what this problem is.”

Elliott, together with a consultant of the Fishing Outfitters Affiliation of Montana, praised FWP for reaching out to anglers, conservation organizations and the general public and being clear about what it’s doing and the issues being confronted.

“It’s not so simple as simply saying we’re going to have this quantity of water,” he mentioned. “We now have to do it in a fancy panorama.

“It’s not a great state of affairs however I believe persons are actually coming collectively and setting among the outdated disagreements apart to do what’s proper.”