Egyptian filmmakers Nada Riyad and Ayman Al Amir received this year’s Variety Award

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Marianne Khoury, Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir.

 Egyptian filmmakers Nada Riyad and Ayman Al Amir received this year’s Variety Award

The Variety Award is presented annually at El Gouna Film Festival to emerging filmmakers expected to have a significant impact on the future of cinema.  

 

 

The award honors filmmakers who have demonstrated exceptional talent or produced high-quality works, both artistically and commercially.

The award was presented to the filmmakers today at a ceremony held in the Festival Plaza as part of the 7th edition of El Gouna Film Festival, running until November 1, 2024.  

 

The ceremony was hosted by GFF’s Artistic Director Marianne Khoury, who said in her opening remarks, “We are delighted to announce and celebrate the achievements of Egyptian filmmakers who have tackled societal issues in a way that resonates with audiences.”

Film Journalist, Critic and Programmer Rafa Sales Ross – Variety Magazine “Nada and Ayman have, as directors and producers, been behind incredible projects, from THE TRAP, to HAPPILY EVER AFTER and THE BRINK OF DREAMS, the later which premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival’s Critics Week selection and that will be screened in El Gouna Film Festival tonight in what I am sure will be a beautiful premiere” 

“Nada Riyad and Ayman El Amir’s work has broached issues of autonomy, creativity, womanhood and political stability in a way that is at once illuminating and deeply moving. And we at Variety are so thrilled to champion Nada and Ayman and cannot wait to continue to follow their outstanding work in the many years to come”

On receiving the award, Nada Riyadthanked Variety magazine and El Gouna Film Festival, stating, “I am honored to receive this award on our premiere night. We are grateful for your support.”Notably, The Blink of Dreams had its Middle Eastern premiere today as part of the 7th edition of El Gouna Film Festival.

Variety is one of the world’s leading magazines specializing in cinema and entertainment. Since its inception eight years ago in 2016, the Variety award has been given to creators of exceptional films, from The Insult, which earned Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri an Oscar nomination, to Goodbye Julia by Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani.”

 

El Gouna Film FestivalOne of the leading festivals in the MENA region, GFF aims to showcase a wide variety of films from around the world, with emphasis on Arab cinema, for a passionate and knowledgeable audience, while fostering better communication between cultures through the art of filmmaking.

 

 

 

The festival’s goal is to connect filmmakers from the region with their international counterparts in the spirit of cooperation and cultural exchange. Moreover, it aims to promote and support the industry’s growth in the region and provide a platform for filmmakers to showcase their work in addition to discovering new voices and talents. 

‘War Among the Clouds’: Book spotlights unsung New Brunswick heroes of First World War

Arts & Culture, Books

After months of shooting down enemy planes, Albert Desbrisay Carter found himself plummeting to the ground. He survived the crash in his aircraft, but he was now stuck in hostile territory. He soon wound up in a German prisoner of war camp, where he would spend much of 1918 before he was repatriated. For him, the First World War was over, but by then he had accomplished more than most pilots from Canada, particularly those from his home province of New Brunswick. “His record of achievement was far beyond anything else New Brunswickers achieved,” said historian and author Brent Wilson. “He had 28 victories.” Carter, who died in 1919 in a tragic flying accident, ranked as the 11th greatest Canadian pilot ace in the First World War, and the highest-ranking one from New Brunswick (the top-ranking overall ace, Billy Bishop, shot down 72 planes). Wilson, who worked at the Centre for Conflict Studies and the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society at the University of New Brunswick, said he started researching Carter when he volunteered to do a presentation on the pilot for Parks Canada a few years ago. As the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force approached in 2024, a friend encouraged Wilson to write a book about Carter and the other New Brunswick pilots. “It became a labour of love,” Wilson said. “Because Canada didn’t have an operational air force in the First World War, Canadians worked with the British air force. The records are there but it meant trolling through these records for months on end trying to track down individuals. I think it paid off in the end.” The book, “War Among the Clouds,” details the lives and experiences of more than 250 New Brunswickers who took to the skies as part of the war effort from 1914 to 1918. “Part of the story comes to the fact New Brunswick and the Maritimes in general … their contributions have been overshadowed by other parts of the country,” Wilson said. “The Maritimes was underrepresented statistically. “When you look at who the airmen were, they tended to come from urban centres, they tended to be well-educated. New Brunswick was still a largely rural province and our cities were quite small, comparatively speaking.” Wilson said the New Brunswick pilots came from major cities and obscure villages across the province. “One thing I discovered was, while most New Brunswick airmen came from larger urban centres like Saint John and Fredericton, there were still large numbers who came from small communities, some of which no longer exist,” he said. “Most people wouldn’t be able to find them on a map.” New Brunswick airman Alvah Good’s crashed plane is pictured. (Source: New Brunswick Provincial Archives) The popular image of the First World War is one of soldiers locked in pitched trench battles, fighting and dying in droves over miles or even inches of muddy, devastated land across Europe. Wilson’s book explores how the theatre of war expanded to the air and around the globe, oftentimes with New Brunswickers pitching in with the struggle. “New Brunswickers served in the Mediterranean, Egypt, Palestine, Macedonia, northern Greece,” Wilson said. “They became involved in the war in Russia, especially after Russia signed a peace treaty with the Germans. “One airman from Milltown was involved in operations in Macedonia and south Russia and flew against the Bolsheviks under the command of Raymond Collishaw. He didn’t get home until early 1920.” New Brunswick airman Leigh Stevenson, left, enjoys tea with King George VI. (Source: Harold Wright) Wilson’s book is the 31st entry in the “New Brunswick Military Heritage” series through Goose Lane Editions. Wilson previously wrote “Hurricane Pilot,” which focused on Fredericton pilot Harry L. Gill in the Second World War, and “A Family of Brothers,” which explored the 26th Battalion from New Brunswick in the First World War, for the series. “I had relatives who served both in the first and second world wars,” he said. “My father was a combat veteran of the Second World War. I grew up with an interest in military history and I focused on it as my major. I was lucky enough to find a career studying it.” Wilson hopes books like “War Among the Clouds” will help Canadians understand their country’s significant contribution to the wider war effort. “With the distance of time, there’s a chance we lose our knowledge, our awareness of the contribution New Bruswickers made to the First World War,” he said. “New Brunswick’s story tends to get lost in the wider national narrative so we wanted to make sure that story was told.” “War Among the Clouds” is available through Goose Lane Editions. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.

The Best Scream Movie According To Rotten Tomatoes

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Static Media

“What’s your favorite scary movie?” rasps an ominous voice on the phone, and depending on the receiver, the game of grisly cat-and-mouse amounts to different ends. The enduring legacy of the “Scream” franchise might have faltered as of late — especially with the controversies surrounding the yet-to-be-released “Scream 7” — but it is not an exaggeration to claim that the first few entries helped shape the rules of the slasher genre in mainstream horror. The original “Scream” is perfect for several reasons: it sets the tone with a truly effective opening scene, sustains the tension with a string of red herrings, and executes an unforgettably solid killer reveal right before the climax. As the story progressed over the years, the metatextual nature of the sequels gradually became an intrinsic part of the franchise’s identity, with the recent “Scream VI” upending its established rules and taking a more location-independent approach to the mythos surrounding the birth of Ghostface(s).

It is tough to discern which “Scream” movie is the best, as almost every film has something unique to offer. However, if we are to go solely by Rotten Tomatoes scores, “Scream 2” emerges as the highest-rated entry in the franchise at the moment, with an 81% on the Tomatometer. As great as 1996’s “Scream” is, its sequel manages to subvert expectations that often hound the successor of a beloved standalone mega-hit, going as far as leaking a dummy script to circumvent leaks and delivering thrills that seem self-aware of the slasher formula it is mimicking. Moreover, with the return of existing characters, the stakes feel significantly raised, as those who survived in the first film are now no longer safe from the clutches of a new masked killer. As more bodies drop, the deaths feel more hard-hitting, as we are given ample time to understand how some of these characters tick, especially when pitted against such an unpredictable source of terror.

Scream 2 is successful in making the slasher sequel formula work

Dimension Films

The meta-commentary that “Scream 2” injects into its narrative via Randy (Jamie Kennedy) — who constantly reminds the characters (and us) about the rules of an effective sequel — introduces a satirical tint that is sustained through the in-universe “Stab” franchise. The publicity surrounding the events in Woodsboro gives birth to a slasher franchise that consciously mimics the inner workings of its real-world counterpart, and the irony of the setting is distilled through the jarring opening scene, which underlines the horrors of media exploitation and how it is received by the masses.

As “Stab” takes over the imaginations of the townsfolk, we are privy to their mounting desensitization to the on screen kills, rendering them incapable of discerning between a scripted death and a real one, even when the latter occurs right in front of their eyes. “Scream 2” is smart enough to anticipate the ugliness of real-world tragedies being exploited for corporate gain, where someone’s greatest nightmare is promptly turned into merchandise that is gleefully worn by the masses without thought or concern. The copycat Ghostface in “Scream 2” exploits this ghoulish state of affairs, melds seamlessly with the dozens of moviegoers wearing his signature mask and robes, and brutally stabs an unwitting audience member (Jada Pinkett Smith) in plain sight. The worst part? Ghostface gets away with it.

On the flip side, we witness how the tragedy (and its gross commodification in media) has affected Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who seems more withdrawn and on edge, despite being determined to survive this hell. The news of the copycat Ghostface fills her with concern for fellow survivors such as Randy, with a much more sure-footed Dewey (David Arquette) trying his best to prevent a repetition of the tragic past. Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) is still as opportunistic as ever, but she is now intimately aware of the dear cost of such exploitation, as she is as much of a target as Sidney, which creates a fresh layer to her character.

Scream 2 explores the trauma of being a survivor

Dimension Films

While Sidney takes on a more (rightfully) cautious approach to new relationships, Randy copes with the trauma by adopting a more laid back, socially brash attitude where he confidently prattles that sequels are inherently inferior and can never surpass the original. Leaning harder into movie trivia and geek-adjacent shenanigans might have been Randy’s way of moving on, and the fact that this hopeful outlook is rapidly undercut with a cruel outdoor kill hurts when we least expect it. Amid all this chaos, we have the wrongfully accused Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) introduced as a red herring to keep us guessing about the identity of the copycat, and it works up until a point, as Cotton seems malicious enough to be able to commit the crimes under the right circumstances.

There are fresh faces who experience the menace that Ghostface is for the first time, such as Cici (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who is part of a dizzying chase sequence before being thrown off the balcony to her death. The reasoning behind her death isn’t obvious at first, but Gale and Dewey figure out the pattern and its connection to the original Woodsboro Murders, offering a valuable clue regarding the possible killer. Apart from this chase scene, every other high-stakes sequence is masterfully crafted, including Gale being hounded by Ghostface around the film department and the “Agamemnon” rehearsal where all hell breaks loose while the chorus surrounds Sidney, who fittingly plays Cassandra.
Throughout “Scream 2,” life imitates art after the latter is used to capitalize on real-life horrors, and the noxious cycle continues, constantly blurring the lines between what is staged and what is real. Surviving the onslaught of the past and the present at the same time has its toll, and Sidney emerges as a driven survivor unwilling to allow anyone to rewrite her destiny, not even the campy unpredictability of an enraged Mrs. Loomis (Laurie Metcalf). After the killer is apprehended, all is well at Woodsboro, until the next wave of Ghostface killings destabilizes hard-earned peace.

Ghanaian Luminaries Gather to Honor the Life of Leticia Amoa-Abban, Mother of Business Mogul Kofi Amoa-Abban

Business News

Leticia Amoa-Abban, mother of prominent Ghanaian businessman Kofi Amoa-Abban, was buried on Saturday. The funeral drew a remarkable and diverse gathering of influential figures, reflecting the inclusivity and respect shown to her legacy and profound impact on her family and community.Held in Tema, the service was attended by a wide array of dignitaries, close friends, and family members, who came together to honour the memory of a woman celebrated for her strength, warmth, and unwavering support for her loved ones.
The Amoa-Abban family’s influence extends beyond their business ventures. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Minister of Energy, was among the notable attendees, highlighting their connection with Ghana’s business and political sectors.
Celebrated broadcaster Gifty Anti was also present, further underscoring the broad reach of the Amoa-Abban family’s influence. Renowned pastor Dr. Lawrence Tetteh led portions of the service, offering words of comfort and remembrance that resonated with the gathered mourners.
Leticia Amoa-Abban was a mother and a pivotal figure in her son Kofi’s journey to success. Her sacrifices and business acumen inspired him and contributed to the foundation of his ventures, including Ringworld International Services Limited, which has grown into a multinational group of companies with a wide footprint across various sectors.
Family members and friends shared stories, recounting her entrepreneurial spirit and deep care for her community.
Leticia’s legacy was described as one rooted in resilience and compassion, leaving a lasting imprint on those she touched.
The ceremony also served as a powerful reunion for Ghana’s high society, with dignitaries and professionals across fields coming together in a unified expression of respect and remembrance, underscoring the deep sense of community and shared loss.
The Amoa-Abban family expressed heartfelt gratitude for the overwhelming support and tributes, emphasizing the warmth and appreciation they felt, and how Leticia’s spirit will continue to live on through the lives she shaped.

University of Ghana Business School Claims Victory in Inaugural Tertiary Business Sense Challenge

Business News

The University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), has won its first Tertiary Business Sense Challenge (TBSC), with a convincing score of 86 points in a keenly contested competition.In a display of business acumen, the participating schools competed on who had the best business brains to think faster and proffer solutions with the defending Champions, University of Education Business School, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Business School and UGBS School as finalists.
The contest, organised by the Graphic Business, saw the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology placed second with a point gap of 73.5, while the University of Education Business School placed third, also with a point gap of 72.7 points.
In a five-round contest held at the GNAT Hall in Accra, each business school was represented by four participants as they answered questions ranging from basic business concepts to a more advanced business ideas and solutions.
The participants pitched business idea on a potential business start-ups created from the current environmental challenge (illegal mining).
Mr. Ato Afful, Managing Director, Graphic Communications, said the contest was aimed at improving the financial literacy among tertiary students in Ghana.
He said the contest was designed to test the contestant’s problem-solving skills, which had been highly rated and needed in contemporary industries across the globe.
He urged the students to have a mindset of entrepreneurship even when they end up being employed in industries of their choice, adding hat they must draw lessons from the contest to enhance their entrepreneurial pursuits.
The Managing Director also called on the participants to leverage the contest and establish networks with contestants from other business schools for future business partnerships.
Mr. Osie Adjaye-Gyamfi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Institute of Chattered Accountants Ghana (ICAG), said the contest transcended academic excellence and was a platform that highlighted future business leaders.
He said the contest was a beacon of inspiration and encouraged students to pursue degree studies in various aspects of business such as accounting and financing.
Mr. Derrich Eyram, a representative from Compu Ghana, wished all the contestants well in their future endeavours.

Environmentalist Eleanor Tillinghast is offering to help the state buy land in Mount Washington to stop a logging project

Technology

Longtime Mount Washington resident Eleanor Tillinghast stands at the edge of state forest set to be logged as part of a plan to manage it. Tillinghast, who is co-founder of Green Berkshires, has told state officials they are willing to help the state buy other property it wants in town in exchange for leaving this forest alone. 

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

MOUNT WASHINGTON — What’s the price to protect the forests near the Mount Washington “Cattle Barn Lot” property? A longtime resident and environmentalist might have the answer.Eleanor Tillinghast, co-founder of Green Berkshires, says she, her husband and a group of others would be “more than willing” to help the state or a nonprofit buy other land in town for preservation in exchange for the halting of the planned logging project on the parcel. Her proposal would eventually see the entire 362-acre lot placed into the Mount Washington Forest Reserve.She said she has been told two estimates of the project’s total timber price yield: $100,000, and $130,000.”It is a small price to pay to protect such an exceptional forest,” she said of a 175-acre area within the lot containing mature sugar maples that are rare to the town that are marked by state foresters for cutting. “If the governor is serious about protecting mature forests, then our offer is a win-win for everyone.”

The section of Mount Washington State Forest known as the “Cattle Barn Lot” after the cow shed seen in the field is the planned site for a controversial logging operation by the state. 

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

She said she has been given two estimates of the project timber yield: $100,000, and $130,000.Tillinghast explained all of this in response to information about the plan in a July 23 email that was sent to The Eagle anonymously. She had sent the email to several state employees and someone who works for The Nature Conservancy. The revelation is the latest twist in a conservation saga that has seen a clash between foresters and environmentalists, climate scientists, state and local officials and residents in two neighboring towns.

The state is chopping inside 275 acres of forest and using herbicide near a drinking water source in Mount Washington. The town is pushing backWith the support of most town households, Tillinghast has spearheaded the effort to halt the DCR’s plans. The agency describes it as a forestry management project meant to create future “climate resiliency,” as well as to support the local timber harvesting industry.DCR does not yet have an estimated start date for the logging project. But project documents say the closeout date is December 2025. The project has come under fire from environmentalists like Tillinghast, town officials and residents. It also is criticized by climate scientists who say the trees, when possible, should be left alone to store carbon — a policy position maintained by the Healey administration.Another aspect of the plan has sparked an uproar: The use of glyphosate this summer to kill invasive species near where a network of intermittent streams form the headwaters of Egremont’s drinking water supply. Mount Washington officials are still asking for more details from the state about this herbicide treatment.

All of this prompted a visit to the site in August by multiple DCR forestry officials and top leaders from Gov. Maura Healey’s administration, including state Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer and Stephanie Cooper, undersecretary for the environment in the state Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.Hoffer said during an interview at the site that, after hearing concerns from Tillinghast and others in town, a “compromise” may be afoot. She did not elaborate.

The offerWhen asked about Tillinghast’s email, a DCR spokesperson who declined to be named said that the agency is “currently reviewing” the project “to address concerns raised by the local community while still aiming to achieve the project goals.”“We’re committed to conserving and enhancing our state forestlands and natural habitats,” the spokesperson said, “and to making investments across the state, including in this region.”In that July 23 email, Tillinghast discussed her offer: a possible donation of money by her, her husband and possibly another couple to help the state buy two separate parcels totaling 504 acres that it has wanted to acquire. The land, Tillinghast, learned this week, is not currently for sale, but she would be willing to help should that change.

Biologist Ben Nickley measures the circumference of an old sugar maple tree marked for logging area in Mount Washington State Forest in August. According to Nickley the tree could be a vital contributor to the balance of the forest ecosystem. Sugar maples are rare in Mount Washington, and activists do not want to see them cut.

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Tillinghast explained that the land is owned by two separate people who might want to sell because a rattlesnake habitat makes it impossible for them to build. The state, however, can only pay the appraised value of the land. The owners want to sell for something closer to market value. Tillinghast’s donation would be the extra money — paid to those sellers directly — needed to augment the state’s money and reach what those two landowners think is a fair price. She said she and her husband “would receive no personal benefit from our contribution,” nor would they be eligible for a “tax break.”“And we do not live anywhere near either of the two properties that might be for sale,” she said, “or near the Cattle Barn Lot.” Tillinghast sees her offers as a “public service.”Meanwhile, Green Berkshires, Tillinghast noted, will continue its numerous scientific studies of the forest ecology that it will share with the state. This includes an $18,000 hydrology study using Lidar — or light detection and ranging — technology that will show the true extent of the watershed.

Lahontan cutthroat trout were once wiped from Tahoe. Scientists have them spawning again

Science and Health

For thousands of years, Lahontan cutthroat trout swam in the expansive waters of Lake Tahoe.

But by 1938, the fish — affected by European settlers’ actions in the Tahoe Basin by such as logging, overfishing, construction of dams and water diversions, and the introduction of non-native species — disappeared.

European settlers offset the lack of large fish by stocking Lake Tahoe with non-native species but for decades, the lake was devoid of Lahontan cutthroat trout.

A Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) project is changing that. 

Biologists studied non-native Rainbow trout — similar in many ways to Lahontan cutthroat trout — to understand their spawning patterns in Lake Tahoe. What they saw gave them hope that a self-sustaining population of Lahontan cutthroat trout could return to the lake in a limited capacity, and they began a multiyear reintroduction and monitoring effort. This year, Lahontan cutthroat were documented exhibiting spawning behavior in a tributary of the lake — the first unassisted attempt in Lake Tahoe in nearly 90 years, according to state biologists.

That effort by the Lahontan cutthroat trout (LCT) — the state fish of Nevada known for its ability to grow as long as 4 feet — is exciting for biologists and sportsmen alike. It is also an important step in the “recovery” of the fish, which is listed as “threatened” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

“If we can get a few of these fish to spawn and reproduce … they can persist into the future without human intervention,” said Travis Hawks, fisheries division supervisor for the Nevada Department of Wildlife’s western region. “The ultimate goal of recovery is to get a species to the point where it can exist to be equipped to handle its environment and we don’t have to take care of it.”

The number of fish that exhibited spawning behavior in Tahoe’s Third Creek (in Incline Village) were few — 10 out of the roughly 200,000 that have been stocked during the last couple of years. But biologists expect to see those numbers increase.

“If we get 10 up there and three of them spawn … it will build upon itself,” Hawks said. “It really does have huge implications for LCT recovery.”

Nevada Department of Wildlife staff and volunteers count and measure fish in the Truckee River (left and center) and a brown trout during a Nevada Department of Wildlife fish count in the Truckee River in Mogul west of Reno on Oct. 3, 2024. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)

‘Proof of concept’

Since European settlement, more than 20 species of fish have been introduced to the Lake Tahoe Basin. As late as the 1990s, thousands of non-native fish were stocked in Lake Tahoe each year for sportsmen, but there was no real management of the lake as a thriving fishery, Hawks said.

“Tahoe was just a big dumping spot of fish,” he said. “The understanding of what was going on in Tahoe wasn’t there.”

As the understanding of Lake Tahoe as a thriving fishery evolved in the early 2000s, state wildlife officials started brainstorming how to restore Lahontan cutthroat trout (listed in 1970 as threatened) to Lake Tahoe — not by stocking the fish, but by carving out a space for the fish to carry out their natural life cycle, as they had before Western settlement.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had previously reintroduced Lahontan cutthroat trout to Fallen Leaf Lake — a small lake attached to Lake Tahoe via Taylor Creek — and reports that those fish have been spawning in Glen Alpine Creek since 2012. Lahontan cutthroat trout were also introduced to the Meiss Meadow area in 1990 by the service; Meiss Meadow is part of an interconnected stream complex within the upper Truckee River. 

But recovery in Lake Tahoe hadn’t been attempted. 

In 2014, state wildlife officials started studying spawning habits of rainbow trout to identify areas that could be suitable to reintroduce Lahontan cutthroat trout. Rainbow trout spawn at the same time of year and in similar habitat as Lahontan cutthroat trout, so wildlife officials captured rainbows spawning in Tahoe’s tributaries, tagged them, then removed their eggs to raise the young in a hatchery. The young raised in the hatchery were released back into the lake and their behavior was monitored. 

Supporters credit Hawks, the state fisheries leader.

“Travis knew full well this was a perfect surrogate project for LCT. He just kept pushing forward,” said Jason Barnes, a biologist with Trout Unlimited who focuses on Lahontan cutthroat trout.

The experiment showed two things — first, that the adult fish they tagged were returning year after year to the same tributaries. And second, of the young raised in the hatchery, about 10 percent were returning to the same tributary they were removed from as an egg.

“Nobody had that data in the Tahoe Basin,” Hawks said.

A Pilot Peak strain Lahontan Cutthroat Trout on March 13, 2024. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)

Within a couple of years, state and federal wildlife officials reached an agreement to stock 2,000 Lahontan cutthroat trout in the lake to see if the fish would make their way into Lake Tahoe’s tributaries to spawn. 

The number of Lahontan cutthroat trout stocked in Lake Tahoe has grown substantially during the past few years; this year, 100,000 were planted.

But hatchery-raised fish don’t thrive in the wild, Hawks said. They are planted for sportsmen and generally don’t survive year after year on their own.

Stocking fish is “pretty much a numbers game,” Hawks said, citing examples in the Truckee River. Each fall, Nevada Department of Wildlife staff does a fish survey to monitor the Truckee’s health. Held in late September or early October, the survey is just a few months after U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stocks as many as 70,000 Lahontan cutthroat trout in the river for recreational fishing.

“We haven’t found more than, say, three [surviving] LCT that are stocked every year,” he said.

“It’s the difference between a farm animal and a wild animal,” he added. “You take a fish born and raised at a hatchery — it’s fed processed food and it’s released into a wild environment and exists in that wild environment for a time, but the odds of it really thriving and reproducing is really slim … 90 percent of them don’t survive.”

But the 10 fish that exhibited spawning behavior in Third Creek could be the start to a self-sustaining population of Lahontan cutthroat trout in Lake Tahoe.

“They have restored a lost function of LCT returning to a stream to spawn,” Barnes said. “You’re not just pulling fish out of a truck anymore. You’ve restored a function that has not been present for 100 years … It’s a proof of concept.”

A permanent structure will be installed on Third Creek to assist the Lahontan cutthroat trout. Fish swimming up the creek will not be able to make it past the structure; state wildlife crews will sort the fish, allowing Lahontan cutthroat trout to continue upstream while other species will be returned to the lake to spawn elsewhere. If left unsorted, rainbow and Lahontan cutthroat trout can mix to create hybrids known as “cutbows.” 

“We understand we aren’t going to do this on every tributary,” Hawks said. “We aren’t going to get rid of all non-natives.”

But the agency can create what he calls “LCT refuge areas.”

“We have to shift our frame of reference and realize if we want LCT recovery, it’s going to be in the current environment and we have to consider what’s realistic and what we want to achieve,” Barnes said. “NDOW has proved this is one of the best outcomes we can get.”

Nevada Department of Wildlife staff and volunteers count and measure fish in the Truckee River in Mogul west of Reno on Oct. 3, 2024. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)