Cherry Creek
Watershed
Fish Community
A total of 15 fish species were collected from four sampling stations in September 2000. The number of taxa declined in a downstream direction with ten species in the western two sampling sites, nine at the site just east of mid-valley and seven at the easterly sampling site located in Delaware Water Gap. Three species (wild brown trout, white sucker and American eel) were found at all four stations.
The Creek has a reproducing wild trout population along its entire length, but numbers decrease from source to mouth, likely due to a decline in habitat quality, and perhaps because of warmer water temperatures. The decrease is attributed to the lack of pools, the scarcity of boulders and cobbles to support aquatic macroinvertebrates, sand-gravel deposits that cause low-velocity flats, and the paucity of instream refuge and foraging sites for trout of all sizes.
The estimated biomass of wild brown trout in the two sampling stations nearer the source of Cherry Creek greatly exceeded the PA Fish and Boat Commission’s standard for Class A trout streams (44 pounds per acre), at 312 pounds per acre near the hatchery and 154 pounds per acre several miles downstream (at the Cherry Valley Methodist Church). Wild and hatchery-bred brown, brook and rainbow trout were found together only at the sampling station near the hatchery. A Full report available as a .PDF File.
