Trout and Char of the World

9: Trout and Char of South America

Ivan Arismendi, Brooke E. Penaluna, Daniel Gomez-Uchida, Cecilia Di Prinzio, Douglas Rodríguez-Olarte, Fernando M. Carvajal-Vallejos, José Iván Mojica, Rosana Mazzoni, Victor Cussac, Mabel Maldonado, Erica Pellegrini Caramaschi, América J. Zeballos, Andrea Villalba, Paul A. Van Damme, Leslie Córdova, Ricardo Iglesias-Rios, Diego Cañas-Rojas, Mauricio Cañas-Merino, Javiera N. Benavente, Mónica Núñez-Flores, Selim S. Musleh, and Pablo Savaria

doi: https://doi.org/10.47886/9781934874547.ch9

Trout and char are native to the Northern Hemisphere, but with human assistance they have made the transequatorial journey to South America. Native trout and char originate in streams in North America or Europe that drain into either the Pacific or Atlantic oceans. They have been extensively introduced throughout South America, leading to the region at the southernmost tip of the continent being nicknamed “Trout Country” (Soto et al. 2006). Trout and char have been introduced at different times and various intensities over the past 175 years through various government initiatives to enhance recreational fishing opportunities and early practices of aquaculture (MacCrimmon and Campbell 1969; Welcomme 1988; Baigún 2001; Basulto 2003; Barriga 2012) and, more recently, for uses in modern aquaculture and for food (Basulto 2003; Thorstad et al. 2008). It was thought that these areas in South America were suitable for them and would benefit from their addition (Basulto 2003).