A Comeback Tale Worth Toasting

Truly fin-tastic news from Lake Champlain: after more than five decades of teamwork and science, the lake’s native lake trout have made a strong comeback that they no longer need to be stocked with hatchery-raised cousins.

This story started way back in the 1950s, when overfishing, pollution, and an invasion of sea lamprey nearly wiped out the lake trout. Enter the Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative—a partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation with a common goal to bring back the lake trout, no matter how long it took.

And take time it did! For decades, these agencies stocked the lake with yearling trout and waged war on the lamprey, using everything from physical barriers to targeted lampricides. The lamprey wounding rate—a gruesome but important metric—dropped from a whopping 99 per 100 trout in 2006 to just 23 per 100 in 2022.

The real turning point came when wild-born trout started showing up in surveys, proving the population could sustain itself without human help. This spring marks the last scheduled stocking, and from here on out, nature gets to take the lead—with a little monitoring from its human friends, of course.

What makes this tale so heartwarming isn’t just the return of a species, but the way it happened: through relentless collaboration, creative problem-solving, and a shared vision between government agencies, scientists, and the community. The result? A self-sustaining fishery that supports a recreational fishing industry worth nearly $474 million a year, plus a healthier lake ecosystem for everyone to enjoy.

This is an incredible conservation success story. The restoration effort is now a shining example for other regions facing similar challenges—proof that when industry and environment work together, everyone wins (especially the fish).