K 285: Recognizing August 16, 2025, as Brook Trout Day in the State of New York

 Assembly Resolution No. 285 BY: M. of A. Miller RECOGNIZING August 16, 2025, as Brook Trout Day in the State of New York WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to celebrate and recognize the official fresh-water fish of this great Empire State; and WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to recognize August 16, 2025, as Brook Trout Day in the State of New York; and WHEREAS, The brook trout was initially adopted as New York's state fish in 1975; the fish was re-adopted as the official state fresh-water fish when Governor George Pataki signed Senate Bill No. 8153 on August 16, 2006; and WHEREAS, The beautiful fish with pink or reddish spots are known to symbolize pure, cold water; hatched in cold water streams, brook trout move downstream as they mature and in late summer and fall, adults move upstream to spawn in areas where waters flow through gravel and rubble; and WHEREAS, Native to a wide area of Eastern North America, brook trout generally live in small to moderate sized streams, lakes, and ponds and are increasingly confined to higher elevations southward in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia and northwest South Carolina, Canada from the Hudson Bay basin east, the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence system, the Canadian maritime provinces, and the upper Mississippi River drainage as far west as eastern Iowa; and WHEREAS, Due to habitat loss and introductions of brown and rainbow trout, brook trout are being restricted to high elevation, remote streams; and WHEREAS, Brook trout were eventually introduced to habitats throughout the western United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries by the American Acclimatization Society and by private, state, and federal fisheries authorities; and WHEREAS, Acclimatization movements in Europe, South America, and Oceania resulted in brook trout introductions throughout Europe, in Argentina, and New Zealand; a significant amount of these established wild, self-sustaining populations of brook trout in non-native waters to aid in protecting the species; and WHEREAS, Brook Trout Day in New York State is meant to call for awareness of and recognition of the importance of the brook trout and its preservation to New York's heritage and rich history; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to recognize August 16, 2025, as Brook Trout Day in the State of New York; and be it further RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).