World Trout

World Trout Initiative®

Trout around the world are at the mercy of human impact. Overfishing and destruction of habitat due to logging, war and global warming are all contributing to threaten trout populations. Humans, though, may also be trout’s saviors.

We are fortunate to have special individuals and groups working tirelessly to preserve indigenous trout. Artist/Author James Prosek had illustrated this point with a story about his first trip to the Zeta River in Serbia-Montenegro to search for the rare softmouth trout. After 3 weeks of searching and finding absolutely nothing, he thought the trout was extinct. Reports from locals, including the president of the local fisheries club lamented the loss of the softmouth trout. A tip about a single man protecting these fish in his local, spring fed tributary prompted a scientific team to return. Because of this single man’s passion, the team discovered hundreds of fish. As a side note, with the commitment by the University of Lubjiana that is the recipient of revenues from World Trout, this scientific team has become Balkan Trout Restoration Group, with the mission to try to save the softmouth trout.

In 1999, on a trip to Yellowstone James Prosek and Patagonia owner Yvon Chouinard met. Hearing the stories of James’ efforts to catch various trout around the world and the dramatic challenges these fish are facing Yvon was motivated to try and help.

Since conservation efforts require organization, money and a positive political climate, the decision was to make this initiative simple and place the money into the hands of the actual groups working to protect the fish. By telling a compelling story and providing the angler and interested parties with a call to action, we felt we could make something happen.

World Trout Mission
The mission of World Trout is to identify the individuals and groups that protect native fish, to tell their story and to support their conservation efforts.

Read more about this exceptional program here.