What’s Happening to Montana’s Whitefish?

Ben Pierce writes in this morning’s Bozeman Chronical about the puzzling decrease in the Montana’s mountain whitefish populations, noting that the problem was noticed during routine trout surveys by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

“‘Anecdotal data suggests whitefish on the Madison are in decline,’ said Christopher Guy, an MSU ecology professor working with the MCFRU. ‘I think it is a really important issue, not just with the state and federal agencies, but with anglers and outfitters that say they just can’t catch the whitefish.'”