Triploid Trout – A Good Thing Or A Bad Thing? - 10/06/2008

The Environment Agency (EA) has released an exciting plan to replace the stocking of mixed-sex brown trout with sexless triploids into many fisheries across England and Wales. After years of research, the move aims to protect and even boost populations of wild brown and sea trout.

The change will prevent farm-reared fish cross-breeding with wild brown trout, which “lowers the ability of offspring to survive in the wild” explains Dafydd Evans, head of fisheries at the EA.

It’s hoped that the change will be complete by 2015 and the EA is working alongside fishery owners to gently phase in the new stocking regime.

The stocking will, however, only affect fisheries that are directly linked to breeding populations of wild brown trout in a river or via an inlet or outlet in stillwaters.
This means that fully isolated ‘put and take’ stillwaters are still at liberty to stock with the mixed-sex brown trout that many anglers enjoy targeting.