ARLINGTON -- High water and bad weather may be the reason behind low trout counts in the Batten Kill, state biologists said Tuesday.

Ken Cox, fisheries biologist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the current studies were planned to end in 2010, but considering the 2009 sampling conditions, the study will now go into 2011.

Cox said that prior to habitat restoration work in certain spots of the river, base line sampling data was collected in 2005 and 2006 in four areas. One was a "habitat study area" in which there were deeper pools, and another was a "riffle" zone of shallow, fast moving water that smaller trout inhabit.

The average for the two years prior to any work being done was 212 trout per mile in the study area and 228 in the riffle zone.

Two other areas, the West Mountain section and the Cemetery Run section were used as controls, and no work has been done in them for the course of the study.

He said the average trout count for 2005 and 2006 in the West Mountain portion was 491 trout per mile and 97 trout per mile in the Cemetery Run.

He said that the average numbers for 2007 and 2008 appeared to show success.

Those were the years when the census was taken after habitat restoration work had been done to build rock feeding stations and deep, covered pools, which trout thrive in because they can hide from predators.

The Batten Kill Watershed Alliance, the Orvis Co., the Green Mountain National Forest, and Trout Unlimited have been coordinating their efforts to return areas of the river to its natural state by building up banks and putting trees in the river to form trout friendly areas.

For 2007 and 2008, the average number of trout per mile in the pools climbed to 972, and to 287 in the riffle area. In the West Mountain section, trout numbers increased to 431, while the Cemetery Run, which Cox said was the area least hospitable to trout, was at 107.

Cox said that the 2009 fish census showed 187 trout per mile in the pool zone, 119 in the riffle, 201 in West Mountain, and 143 in the Cemetery Run.

"I don’t think we can say at this time that the decline is reflective of something going on in the population as a whole," Cox said.

Cox said the water level was high in July when the fish census is normally taken. The process involves running an electric current through the water, causing fish to float unharmed to the surface for counting.

Rep. Cynthia Browning, D-Arlington, the executive director of the Batten Kill Watershed Alliance, said the fish census process requires 15 to 20 people and is difficult to reschedule. She said the high water in July made walking through the water and counting fish difficult. Browning said the census in the control sections were taken in August when the water was lower. Normally, samples from the pool and riffle zones are taken a few weeks apart from the control zones to ensure an accurate count.

She said that she supports the study being continued into 2011 and that the alliance, along with its partners, will carry on with the habitat restoration work, with an eye towards working near the Yellow Barn Farm on Route 314 and the Arlington Recreational Park.

Contact Keith Whitcomb at kwhitcomb@benningtonbanner.com.

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