Almost 200 thousand eggs
During the month of January, the Wildlife Management Office, in collaboration with the Aquatic Species Protection Centre and various fishing associations, released approximately 193.000 embryonated eggs of marble trout, a year-round protected species. "With this ecological measure, which we have been implementing for years, we are specifically supporting the population of South Tyrol's only native trout species," emphasizes Günther Unterthiner, Director of the Forestry Department of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano. "The marble trout is an ecologically and culturally important fish species for South Tyrol," emphasizes Luis Walcher, Provincial Councilor for Forestry, adding: "For this reason, we specifically support projects and measures that promote the long-term stability of fish stocks," Walcher emphasizes.
Reproductive heritage
"To obtain egg material, wild marble trout are caught every year to build a breeding stock," reports Hannes Grund of the Wildlife Management Office. "All broodstock used for egg collection undergo genetic testing as part of the MarmoGen project at the Edmund Mach Foundation Research and Innovation Center in San Michele, to rule out any cross-breeding with brown trout." The broodstock comes primarily from the in-house production of the hatcheries of the Aquatic Species Protection Center, the Bolzano Fishermen's Association, and the Valle Isarco Fishermen's Association.
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The intervention
In stretches of waterways with limited natural substrate for spawning, gravel was introduced to create artificial spawning sites. A total of 35 cubic meters of gravel was introduced into the waterways this winter. Staff from the Provincial Wildlife Management Office scattered the eggs freely on suitable gravel banks, where the current distributed them across the entire gravel surface, where they remained in the crevices of the substrate. After a few days, the so-called fry hatch, which, under suitable conditions, grow directly in the water. Another portion of the egg material present in the various hatcheries is raised into fry. These are then released into the respective waters at various stages of development until next fall (source: Province of Bolzano).
