Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout Stocked in Rio Grande

From the April 2014 Newsletter

344The New Mexico Game and Fish Department stocked almost 10,000 young Rio Grand cutthroat trout into the into the Rio Grande Gorge north of Taos river as part of a long-range plan to spur interest in the state fish and restore it in other streams and creeks. Like other native fish, the Rio Grande cutthroat has disappeared from much of its historic range in New Mexico and Colorado.

The department began restocking the fish in the Rio Grande in 2008. Today, people can fish for cutthroat that have grown to adulthood in the gorge and are now as large as 12 inches.

The fish is a candidate for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The trout released recently were raised at Seven Springs Hatchery. To keep the cutthroat’s genetic strain pure, those are the only species raised there.