Who to contact for questions or possible errors on taxonomy?

I have noticed that observations of hatchery origin, stocked rainbow fisheries in the Lower Mainland of BC are being identified as https://inaturalist.ca/taxa/143607-Oncorhynchus-mykiss-irideus. These fish are descendants of domesticated hatchery brood stock originally from Washington State (Tacoma hatchery) transplanted to BC and stocked in various Fraser Valley augmented fisheries. Some of which are constructed lakes that would not have fish otherwise. The brood stock have been domesticated for decades and there is no way to know if there lineage is purely coastal or interior or a mix ( suspect the latter given what I recollect from working for the Province of BC in the 1990’s). But some of the IDs of these stocked fisheries are getting to research grade as the irideus ssp. (example).

Also iNaturalist shows the irideus ssp. as Endangered in Canada (SARA schedule 1). Only the Thompson, Chilcotin and Athabasca River Steelhead populations are listed under SARA.

So, is there a better way to address these other than going in to each individual observation where it is known these are hatchery origin fish? My focus is Surrey and we only have stocked rainbow trout in one location. We do have river steelhead but they too are generally hatchery augmented, likely from non-local origins.

1 Like

Probably best to discuss with curators/IDers on a taxon flag.

5 Likes

@onefishyboi You may be interested in this thread

@surrey-bc_biodiversity You will get direct answers to your question here, but the clip below is relevant IMO. I posted it just as much for myself to review.

The point of the clip is that the concept of “research grade” was kind of a placeholder, and it has gained more significance than was ever intended. It’s not a perfect concept, especially for a fisheries context where hatchery-raised fish are living in the wild.

You could compare it to recent discussions of taxonomy on the forum:

1 Like

This thread re: tagged fish of hatchery origin may be helpful or it may muddy the water further (badum bum!).