Llano River Fishing, Habitat on Watch

One of Texas’ premiere kayaking and fishing rivers has found itself among the top national waters to keep an eye on in the upcoming years. The Llano River in Texas has been named one of 10 “Waters to Watch” for 2011 in the National Fish Habitat Action Plan. The river watch list does not necessarily mean the Llano is in trouble, but it really identifies those that will benefit from strategic conservation efforts to protect, restore or enhance them, thus providing natural models for good habitat work elsewhere.

The national 10 “Waters to Watch” represent a snapshot of voluntary habitat conservation efforts in progress across the USA. Regional Fish Habitat Partnerships forming throughout the country are conserving these waters under the National Fish Habitat Action Plan, an initiative begun in 2006 to avoid and reverse persistent declines in aquatic habitats that are essential for fish, wildlife and people.

In Texas, the Llano River project aims to protect and improve aquatic habitats of the Guadalupe bass, the State Fish of Texas. By rallying support around this popular yet imperiled species, the project is bringing together a wide range of partners to conserve the entire Llano watershed, including tributary streams that feed into it, as well as the upland hills and riparian riverbanks that affect water quality.

Guadalupe bass numbers have declined dramatically in recent years, probably due to changes in habitat more than over-fishing. After eons of adapting to its stream environment, the state fish is at a disadvantage in modern-day reservoirs and in streams with diminished flow. However, the greatest threat to its continued existence is hybridization with introduced smallmouth bass.

The good news is many stream reaches throughout the fish’s native range remain relatively pristine and intact, despite steady human population increases in the region. However, projections of population growth, water demands, and land-use changes indicate these streams will soon be at risk. Like most of Texas, land within the fish’s native range is almost entirely privately owned, which makes effective collaboration with private landowners critical to the long-term conservation of habitats for Guadalupe bass and other native species.

The Llano project will protect and restore Guadalupe bass by developing a network of willing owners of Llano land along the river interested in coordinated landscape conservation at a watershed scale. These actions will promote functional riparian and stream systems and emphasize the conservation of native fish communities and supporting habitats.

Together they will attempt to reduce or eliminate activities on the landscape that degrade water quality, reduce water quantity, degrade riparian systems, favor non-native species or fragment stream systems, while encouraging a wide array of sustainable land-use activities compatible with aquatic resource conservation. If it all works out, fish populations and fishing in the Llano River will remain stable for many years to come.