Opinion: Missing the boat on remote pond stocking

Howard Capen keeps an eye on his line from the bank along Miller Pond in Strafford, Vt. Fish and Wildlife stocking truck had just unloaded 1,300 rainbow trout into the water.

Howard Capen keeps an eye on his line from the bank along Miller Pond in Strafford, Vt. Fish and Wildlife stocking truck had just unloaded 1,300 rainbow trout into the water. Jennifer Hauck / Valley News

By BOB MALLARD

Published: 06-20-2025 10:00 AM

Modified: 06-24-2025 11:00 AM


Most popular trout waters in New Hampshire are stocked. This includes almost all lakes, most ponds and rivers and many streams. In many cases stocking is being done on top of wild native brook trout.

While progress has been made over the last decade in regard to suspending stocking over wild brook trout in small streams, very little progress has been made in regard to rivers and small ponds.

Unfortunately, once we start stocking a body of water in New Hampshire, it is very difficult to get it stopped, even when the data shows that stocking is unnecessary.

There are just three formally designated wild brook trout ponds in New Hampshire. Two more ponds are supposed to see stocking suspensions in 2025. And while there are a few other unstocked brook trout ponds without formal designations, most trout ponds in New Hampshire are stocked and have been for decades.

As a result of hatchery problems, roughly 50 backcountry ponds in New Hampshire will experience temporary stocking suspensions in 2025. Many of these ponds haven’t been surveyed in years. In some cases, the stocked brook trout are clearly holding over. This means that the habitat is suitable for year-round survival. Is it possible that some of these ponds may be able to support natural reproduction as well?

Native Fish Coalition (NFC) believes that there are additional ponds in New Hampshire that could support wild brook trout fisheries if managed accordingly. This means suspending stocking and imposing tackle, bag, and length limits to protect the wild fish. Currently, while many of these waters have a fly fishing only tackle restriction, most have a five-fish daily bag limit and no length limit.

NFC sees the temporary stocking suspensions as a unique opportunity to try to reduce stocking where it is being done over wild native fish. In addition to the cost of stocked fish, New Hampshire’s remote brook trout ponds are stocked via helicopter which is an expensive proposition. And to be clear, remote pond stocking has a poor return on investment due to high costs, low usage and short season.

The temporary stocking suspensions offer an opportunity to take a look at the affected waters to see is there is evidence of natural reproduction. Last stocked in June 2024 with fingerlings, the stocked fish would now be 6-inches or larger. Anything shorter is likely to be a wild fish.

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Confirming natural reproduction of brook trout would be relatively easy. We do not need to show the abundance of wild brook trout to do this, just their presence. This would allow New Hampshire Fish and Game (NHFG) to extend the stocking suspension another year or two, impose some temporary protective regulations and see what happens.

If we fail to do everything possible to try to identify natural reproduction of brook trout in the remote ponds slated for stocking suspensions in 2025, we will miss a once-in-a-generation opportunity to save sportsmen money, create more wild native brook trout pond fisheries and lessen the workload on NHFG.

NHGF does not have the resources to survey all of the ponds where stocking will be suspended in 2025. While they cannot afford to do so, those who foot the bill to stock these waters can’t afford not to.

Unfortunately, NHFG rejected a proposal by NFC to conduct a volunteer survey of the remote brook trout ponds impacted by temporary stocking suspensions in 2025. The plan was to publish a list of affected waters, recruit anglers and others to sign up to survey them, and have volunteers angle, video and visually inspect the waters to try to confirm the presence of juvenile brook trout. The goal was to provide NHFG with evidence of natural reproduction so additional surveying can be done to determine if a cessation of stocking is warranted.

NFC has also been unable to work out the details that would allow board members to use non-lethal minnow traps, seining nets and cast nets to try to capture and photograph juvenile brook trout.

At this point, delays in getting formal approval are putting this part of the proposal at risk as well due to the short season on these waters and the likely resumption of stocking in 2026.

It’s time for NHFG to embrace and encourage volunteer citizen science efforts when people are willing to do what they can’t do on their own so we do not miss opportunities to save money and promote wild native brook trout in New Hampshire. This has been done in neighboring Maine and New York, why not New Hampshire?

Bob Mallard is the executive director of the Native Fish Coalition. He lives in Skowhegan, Maine.