New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Media contact: Clint Henson, (575) 445-2311
Public contact: (505) 476-8000
clint.henson@state.nm.us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, NOV. 9, 2010:

DEPARTMENT SEEKS INFORMATION ON PIKE ILLEGALLY STOCKED IN EAGLE NEST LAKE

RATON – The Department of Game and Fish is looking for information about who may have illegally placed northern pike into Eagle Nest Lake.

The Department was alerted to the presence of pike in Eagle Nest Lake by a 13-year-old Espanola angler who reported catching a small pike in the lake.

Moving fish from one lake or stream to another is illegal and can cause millions of dollars of damage to a fishery and years of work to try to remove an unwanted species. Eagle Nest Lake is managed as a quality trout and salmon fishery. The Department stocks about 600,000 fingerling rainbow trout and about 200,000 kokanee salmon fry in the lake annually.

Northern pike feed primarily on large quantities of fish such as rainbow trout fingerlings and kokanee salmon fry. If northern pike become established in Eagle Nest Lake, hopes of a continued quality trout and salmon fishery would be lost.

The Department Operation Game Thief program offers rewards for information that leads to the arrest or charges against wildlife law violators. Please call toll-free, (800) 432-4263 if you have any information regarding this crime or any other. Callers can remain anonymous and receive $250 for information about cases involving illegal fishing or stocking fish.

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