As the 2012 taimen field season gets underway we take a look back at some key accomplishments, and look forward to how we intend to continue to build upon that work. Last season found us working with local government and airport administrators in Murun, the provincial capital of Khovsgol Aimag, to construct a permanent taimen conservation kiosk in the Murun airport. The new kiosk greets all incoming anglers as they begin their taimen fishing trip in Mongolia. Anglers will now be provided with Information regarding Mongolia’s taimen laws and regulations.
Late last year I attended the first comprehensive taimen education workshop in Auckland, New Zealand. The workshop was a part of the 25th Anniversary Society of Conservation Annual Meeting and was made possible by support from the highly successful WWF Mongolia’s Rare Pride campaign from the Onon/Balj watershed inEastern Mongolia. This workshop was the first time that a Mongolian-led taimen conservation group shared information and stories with Mongolian anglers who are interested in replicating their conservation work.
During the upcoming 2012 field season we will continue our mark-recapture program on the Delger Murun. Trout Headwaters Inc provided Fish Mongolia tagging equipment last year that allows our clients and anglers the ability to participate in taimen conservation while they fish on the Delger Murun River. The equipment THI provided allows us to implant a small identification tag into the taimen so that we can begin to learn population estimates for the Delger Murun. This information will be shared with the local government to help determine the health of the taimen fishery along the Delger Murun. This tagging project is in conjunction with the National University of Mongolia, and a Mongolian graduate student in fisheries management. The Mongolian graduate student, Nurkha, records all of the data (length, girth, weight) of each fish for her studies. I am confident the 2012 field season will be as successful as 2011.
2012 Financial Sponsors for the Taimen Conservation Project
- Trout Headwaters Inc (https://www.troutheadwaters.com)
- Fish Mongolia http://fishmongolia.com/
- Mongolian River Outfitters http://mongoliarivers.com/
- Sweetwater Travel http://www.sweetwatertravel.com/
- The Tributary Fund http://thetributaryfund.org/programs/mongolia/ttf-taimen-fund/
- WWF- Mongolia http://wwf.panda.org/?201567/THE-TAIMEN-CONSERVATION-STUDY-TOUR-OF-THE-ONON-RIVER-FISHING-CLUB-MEMBERS-IN-TO-THE-KHOVSGOL-AIMAG
This series follows University of Montana graduate student Dan Bailey as he travels the wilds of Mongolia to survey and tag Taimen, the world’s largest trout. Dan is posting to the Club EcoBlu blog as he assists with the Taimen Conservation Project . Taimen are highly endangered, have been known to grow to 6-ft long and more than 200 lbs. The information gathered will aid in drafting a conservation plan to protect this megafish. Trout Headwaters, Inc. is a sponsor of the project.
