The battle over rotenone is flaring up in New Mexico. This go round, the state Department of Game & Fish (NMDGF) wants to use rotenone to nix nonnative rainbow and brown trout from 24 miles of Whitewater Creek, on the Gila National Forest, where federally threatened Gila trout once swam in peace. The creek experienced a major—but not total—fish kill after wildfires scorched the area in 2012. Wildlife managers and biologists want to use the opportunity to reintroduce native Gilas, despite some groups hollering about potential health concerns presented by the mildly toxic piscicide.

Freya Kamel, a scientist with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences calls rotenone “a very grey area.” A study published in 2011 by the National Center for Biotechnical Information, which Kamel participated in, concluded a link between rotenone exposure and Parkinson’s disease. In 2011 the EPA mandated the removal of rotenone from household pest and garden products, citing potential adverse effects to the environment. Wildlife groups express concern over its effects on non-target species like birds and turtles.

In rivers, fisheries managers apply rotenone at less than 50 parts per billion, where it’s neutralized downstream from the target area with little effect on nonfish species. For fisheries managers trying to reintroduce or save native fish populations like the Gila, rotenone remains the best option. Methods like electro-shocking and barrier construction, on the other hand, are only partially effective. For native fish advocates the restoration of populations is well worth the potential risks. “We want to see wild and native fish back in their natural environment,” said Jason Amaro, coordinator of the Silver City, NM, TU chapter.

In his work on restoring native golden trout in the South Fork Kern River, Edwin Pister, retired California Department of Fish and Wildlife aquatic biologist, said, “I can safely say that had I not been able to use rotenone, the California golden trout would now be extinct.”

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Tom Bie
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Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.

Category: Daily Drake
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Author: Tom Bie

Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.

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