Monday, March 25, 2013

Coaster Research Needs Help!

I was fortunate to attend a presentation at the the recent Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo in Minneapolis, MN, by guide Scott Thorpe entitled, "Coaster Brook Trout- Past , Present, and Future".  The coaster brook trout is the rarest of all Great Lakes sport fish and a true native species.

Coasters are a migratory form of the eastern brook trout, once extremely abundant in Lake Superior but were nearly fished to exticntion.   They are genetically the same as brook trout, but are behaviorally very different.  Their numbers are slowly recovering, but they are still rare-especially in the U.S. waters of Lake Superior.

The Coaster Brook Trout Research Unit is a research initiative of  The Greater Lake Superior Foundation (GLSF).  Each year, the GLSF offers a grant to a graduate student in research on coasters in Lake Superior and its tributaries.  Funding is provided through the sale of the decal shown and available online from the GLSF, www.thegreaterlakesuepriorfoundation.org.  All it takes is $6.00 to show your support!