G&F wrestles with how to handle illegal introduction of fish in Wyoming waters

SHERIDAN — Fish that are illegally introduced to non-native bodies of water can cause lasting impacts to the water’s ecosystem and a community’s economy, according to Wyoming Game and Fish officials.
An illegal introduction occurs when someone moves a fish from one body of water to another, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Chief of Fisheries Alan Osterland told the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee earlier this week.
Osterland said fishermen may have grown up catching a specific fish and now want an opportunity to catch it closer to home. He added a private citizen may not fully recognize the impacts that moving a fish can have.
“Illegal introductions of fish into waters of Wyoming and the west can (have), and has been, a significant impact to both the local economies in some instances, and the ecology of the water bodies that they come into,” Osterland said.