Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture: Helping Brook Trout for over 20 years as a National Fish Habitat Partnership

As one of the original National Fish Habitat Partnerships, the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture (EBTJV) was formed out of a concern for loss of Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis, one of North America’s most revered fishes, in its eastern native range. More than two decades later, this volunteer-led initiative continues to thrive through a strong partnership of federal, state, tribal, and nongovernmental organizations to advance Brook Trout conservation. Focused primarily upon protection and enhancement of habitats, the EBTJV supports on-the-ground habitat projects directly, while also advancing Brook Trout conservation via collection and dissemination of range-wide salmonid occupancy data, comprehensive outreach efforts, and expansion of scientific partnerships. Going forward, the EBTJV will continue to explore opportunities to expand its impact as the hub for Brook Trout research and management and achieve its vision of “healthy coldwater systems with fishable Brook Trout populations throughout their historic eastern geographic range.”