Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Suzanne Lewis announced that concerns over increasing whirling disease in the Pelican Creek drainage has led to the closure of the stream to angling beginning with the 2004 fishing season. Indications that the native cutthroat trout population has fallen has biologists concerned about the dwindling spawning run from Yellowstone Lake, and the poor spawn production from the stream.

It is unknown how whirling disease was introduced to Pelican Creek and Yellowstone Lake but one potential mode of transport is by humans and their fishing gear. According to Chief Fisheries Biologist, Dr. Todd Koel, "Our objectives are to protect the remaining cutthroat trout in Pelican Creek from stress and prevent potential movement of the destructive whirling disease parasite from Pelican Creek to other streams of Yellowstone."

In 1998, the exotic parasite that causes whirling disease in wild trout, Myxobolus cerebralis, was discovered in Yellowstone Lake. Intensive research has since shown that the disease has significantly increased in Pelican Creek, a large Yellowstone cutthroat trout spawning tributary, and a significant contributor of spawn to Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone Lake represents the largest remaining natural habitat of genetically-pure Yellowstone cutthroat trout in existence. These cutthroat trout are highly valued ecologically, economically and socially.

The closure of the Pelican Creek drainage will start with the opening of the angling season May 29, 2004, and may continue additional years. Other fishing regulations in the park are unchanged. Biologists will continue to monitor the severity of the disease and the status of the cutthroat trout population in anticipation of improvement and reopening this stream system for enjoyment by future anglers. Remember to check for specific rules regarding the waters you are fishing and please be sure to submit your voluntary angler report card, obtained when purchasing a special use permit for fishing. The report cards provide biologists with invaluable information on park fisheries.

Information provided by the NPS