03-19-2008, 09:42 PM
Re: "you can't say that the fish in question remained small due to genetics. it is obvious that the small lake trout in question never converted to a fish diet. This is not a genetic result."
It IS obvious that this fish never converted to fish, but why was that? Did it make a conscious decision to live an "alternative lifestyle"? It had within itself some characteristic regarding behavior that caused it to not switch to fish eating. There was no food bottleneck in Flaming gorge in 1983. There was no bottleneck of food in the HATCHERY where this fished lived before planting. Unless this fish can blame his parents or the Wyo DOW for emotional trauma in his training, the reason for his individual traits causing him to not eat fish is his GENES wired his brain and his brain instructed him to eat lower on the food chain. So, yes it is a genetic result.
The biologist that originated this discussion probably has forgotten more about indeterminate growth that everyone on here currently knows. These are quotes from his article posted by Wyobraz.
"A fish's genes also determine how large they will grow. Some fish are programmed, if you will, to be large and others, small," he said. "That applies to fish from wild populations to those reared in a fish hatchery. There was plenty of food for this one lake trout to eat when it was stocked 25 years ago and it only grew to be two and a half pounds."
"When you think of the record lake trout taken out of the Wyoming portion of Flaming Gorge Reservoir, 51 pounds, this fish paled in comparison in size, but its capture allowed fish managers an opportunity to learn more about fish genetics, age and growth of lake trout in the reservoir," he said.
It is clear that he views genetics as an important part of the question regarding this fish. Sorry if I am beating this dead horse one more time.
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It IS obvious that this fish never converted to fish, but why was that? Did it make a conscious decision to live an "alternative lifestyle"? It had within itself some characteristic regarding behavior that caused it to not switch to fish eating. There was no food bottleneck in Flaming gorge in 1983. There was no bottleneck of food in the HATCHERY where this fished lived before planting. Unless this fish can blame his parents or the Wyo DOW for emotional trauma in his training, the reason for his individual traits causing him to not eat fish is his GENES wired his brain and his brain instructed him to eat lower on the food chain. So, yes it is a genetic result.
The biologist that originated this discussion probably has forgotten more about indeterminate growth that everyone on here currently knows. These are quotes from his article posted by Wyobraz.
"A fish's genes also determine how large they will grow. Some fish are programmed, if you will, to be large and others, small," he said. "That applies to fish from wild populations to those reared in a fish hatchery. There was plenty of food for this one lake trout to eat when it was stocked 25 years ago and it only grew to be two and a half pounds."
"When you think of the record lake trout taken out of the Wyoming portion of Flaming Gorge Reservoir, 51 pounds, this fish paled in comparison in size, but its capture allowed fish managers an opportunity to learn more about fish genetics, age and growth of lake trout in the reservoir," he said.
It is clear that he views genetics as an important part of the question regarding this fish. Sorry if I am beating this dead horse one more time.
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