This year marks the tenth for the Tennessee Aquarium’s involvement in a now-decades-long attempt to restore the Southern Appalachian Brook Trout to the mountain streams from which it largely had disappeared by the 1980s. This latest release saw 800 juvenile trout introduced into the pristine waters of Ike Camp Branch, a beautiful stream flowing through the southern reaches of Cherokee National Forest.
Overcoming habitat loss due to deforestation and population decline brought about by the introduction of invasive Rainbow Trout has been hard work. Nevertheless, the Aquarium and partners such as Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, U.S. Forest Service and the Appalachian Chapter of Trout Unlimited continue to locate ideal (and idyllic!) locations where Tennessee’s only native trout can establish self-sustaining populations once again.
