Clinch River Chapter of Trout Unlimited
72 Outer Drive
Oak Ridge, TN 37830
May 14, 2001

Mr. Bill Reeves
Chief of Fisheries
Fisheries Management Division
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
P.O. Box 40747
Nashville, TN 37204
 
Dear Mr. Reeves,
 
First of all, our chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU) would like to express its appreciation to TWRA for funding and sponsoring the various research projects undertaken by Dr. Phillip Bettoli and his students. During the recent filming of an up-coming episode for TU TV, the host, Tim Linehan, remarked that Tennessee is the only state he is familiar with that has funded scientific studies to provide data for future consideration of fishing regulations. In our opinion,TWRA should be proud of this initiative, and we heartily commend the agency for supporting these studies.
 
As prologue, I would like to remind you that Trout Unlimited is a cold water fisheries conservation organization, not a fishing club. The mission of TU is “To conserve, protect and restore North America’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.” Our concern is for the health of the river, condition of the water and habitat, and quality of the trout in the fishery. Certainly, virtually all of our members fish the Clinch; but as an organization, our focus is the fishery, not the fishing.  

Publication of Dr. Bettoli’s “Final Report” (Fisheries Report 01-04) marks the end of a five-year “cooling-off” period following the controversial and acrimonious establishment and subsequent abandonment of the Quality Zone on the Clinch. The agreement between TWRA and LUCRO (perhaps unwritten, but widely acknowledged) was that TWRA would not make any changes in fishing regulations on the Clinch River until studies could be done which would provide the scientific basis necessary for any future changes in fishing regulations.  

Due to the activities of a relatively small group of TU members, our organization was painted with a broad brush as the villain behind the establishment of the Quality Zone. In fact, the divisiveness of this issue was at least partially responsible for the formation of the Clinch River Chapter. During the course of the Tennessee Tech studies, members of the Clinch River Chapter have supported Dr. Bettoli, and we have invested considerable time and effort to try to gain the trust and respect of land owners along the Clinch. At our May 10, 2001, chapter meeting, there was general agreement amongst our attending membership that we should continue to work with LUCRO, and non-affiliated property owners, to improve the quality of the Clinch River fishery.
 
Thus far, our chapter has held three meetings for the purpose of discussing the findings and recommendations presented in Dr. Bettoli’s “Final Report.” In fact, Dr. Bettoli was our guest speaker at our monthly chapter meeting, where he repeated the presentation he made to the Wildlife Resources Commission, and responded to questions from our members. Afterwards, following much discussion, it was the consensus of those Clinch River Chapter members in attendance that we support TWRA’s efforts to build consensus around a fisheries management program for the Clinch; and, pending the outcome of a series of stakeholder meetings and information sessions, that this management program may, or may not, include new or revised regulations to govern harvest of brown and rainbow trout on this river.  

At this point, our principle concern is that, prior to finalizing a management program, including any changes in regulations, there should be full and open discussion of the various management issues and options through a series of stakeholder meetings. Our chapter is committed to participating in such a consensus building process and is willing to work within the framework of such a process toward that end.  All points of view should be heard. In short, we believe that mutual agreement on a management program for this river among all the various stakeholder interests (landowners, fishermen, other users, etc.) and TWRA is essential if the quality of the fishery is to be enhanced.
 
In general, we are supportive of the criteria established in Dr. Bettoli’s report as suitable indicators for fisheries enhancement. However, we also feel that a comprehensive monitoring program is an essential component of this management program, and that TWRA must commit the resources necessary to improve our understanding of this tailwater fishery, particularly how it responds to variations in flow conditions, temperature changes, siltation, etc. Additionally, any regulatory changes adopted through the consensus building process should be considered provisionary, and subject to revision or abandonment pending the outcome of follow-up monitoring and research to determine the success or failure of applied management.  

We agree with Dr. Bettoli that there are several possible changes that definitely should not be considered, as summarized in Table 2 in his “Final Report.” We believe it is important to keep in mind that the Clinch trout fishery is only thirteen miles of river, and that it currently serves as the primary trout fishery for nearly half a million Tennesseans.  

Finally, while applauding the studies completed to date, we fully recognize that a tremendous amount of work remains to develop a full understanding of the functioning of this tailwater fishery, at least to a point where management is fully supported by scientific data. For example, we have recently participated in backpack electroshocking studies in several parts of the Clinch where we collected and counted trout fry hatched in the river this spring. To truly understand this fishery, there needs to be a better understanding of the extent of spawning in the Clinch and its tributaries, and the effects of the amount of water released during the spawning season. We have observed major changes in insect populations over the last several years; studies need to be done to determine the effects of flood events and high discharge rates on the benthos. We are concerned about the increased silt we are seeing; the effects of silt on the benthos, and spawning, need to be studied. So we hope that TWRA will also think of the just-completed studies as a starting point, and will find ways to continue to study the fishery. We also hope that TWRA will think of Trout Unlimited as a partner in any future management programs for the Clinch, and will look to us as a resource in future studies.
 
Thank you for this opportunity to express our views on the Clinch River fishery. We look forward to the opportunity to participate in stakeholder meetings related to future management strategies for this special fishery.
 
Sincerely,  Wilfred S. (“Steve”) Brown President
Clinch River Chapter of Trout Unlimited 

 
 
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