Friends of the Upper Mississippi

Collaboration, teamwork, dedication, and setting goals are just some examples of what Genoa National Fish Hatchery has been doing as a part of the progress in Lake Sturgeon recovery. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that the Lake Sturgeon population in the Upper St. Lawrence River has met their goal for adult spawning and juvenile recruitment.  Lake Sturgeon have been on New York’s threatened species list since 1983 and with the support from DEC, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s New York Field Office, U.S. Geological Survey, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, New York Power Authority and Cornell University that could change. A stocking program began in 1993 with four sites and has expanded to stocking ten sites in 2021 with a total of more than 275,000 Lake Sturgeon into New York waters. With these efforts we are now reaching population targets in four of the seven management units. The end goal is to reach six targets in the seven management units. This will lead towards removal of Lake Sturgeon from the threatened species list in New York. Thanks to all our partners, Friends group and volunteers who help us tag thousandths of Lake Sturgeon annually, your hard work, support and for modeling exemplary teamwork in reaching a common goal towards species recovery for future generations.
By: Doug Aloisi and Erica Rasmussen

A pod of adult Lake Sturgeon gathering to spawn. Photos by USFWS.

Sometimes, no matter how faithful the steed is, it is time to put it out to pasture. I am starting to find those words ever more meaningful and a tad ironic while in the twilight of my own career. But in this case, there is solace in the fact that the pasture holds rest and hopefully the farmers have been minding the thistles. Applying this theory to some of our most valued equipment, the new year finds us with a new long range fish hauling unit. This new steed has a lot of extras that should not only keep the fish healthier and in better shape, but also be safer and more efficient transport for the fish haulers. The new trailer unit features heavy duty rims and grip strut walkways to increase traction for loading the tanks. Its tank also has a lower profile on the trailer bed, which should allow for lower fuel consumption and less tire wear. The trailer has a new (to Genoa) Ram Air Ventilation system that should alleviate carbon dioxide buildup in some of the long distance hauls that we have currently been performing. It also will have better real time monitoring systems when completed which will allow in route water quality monitoring and correction to reduce physiological stress on the cargo. This new addition to the stable should serve its purpose well as the station’s next generation long hauling distribution unit. By: Doug Aloisi

A dual axle trailer with 1200 gallon tank with 3 separate compartments. Photo: Doug Aloisi/USFWS.

PVC cages with mesh end caps housing Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly larvae. These cages are arranged in flow-through culture tanks in the Dragonfly Trailer at GNFH. Photo: Beth Glidewell/USFWS.

Larvae in culture cups floating in tanks, ready to be packed up for transport.

After spending the growing season in culture tanks in the dragonfly trailer, Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly larvae were checked, photographed for measurement, and packed up for transport during the first week of November. 267 larvae were first placed into pvc tube, mesh screen capped cages in early June. Culture tanks in the trailer allow a fresh supply of pond water and ample zooplankton prey for the larvae, while also creating a semi-controlled culture space where dissolved oxygen, water flow rate and temperature can be monitored and controlled all summer. A mid-season check showed an 81% survival rate for the first stage (cages with 400-500 micron mesh) and an 89% survivorship for second stage cages (the larvae had grown enough that 1mm mesh was sufficient)

The 193 surviving larvae were placed in 100 ml specimen cups for transport. Colleagues from the University of South Dakota (USD) and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, IL—partner institutions for the Hine’s Emerald project—came to GNFH and securely packed up the specimen cups for transport back to their institutions for over-winter storage. Water temperatures had dropped to near 40 °F, so larvae had slowed down metabolically and had sufficient oxygen in these cups for transport and will be checked weekly or bi-weekly all winter. Hine’s Emerald larvae typically require several growing seasons to reach a sufficient size that they’ll emerge as adults. These larvae will be cultured for another growing season and their size will be monitored so they can be placed in culture cages that allow both aquatic larval and aerial/perching adult stages well before emergence occurs (the non-aquatic adults very much do not want to be in a mesh cage under water!).
As we said goodbye to one cohort of dragonflies, the next round was arriving. Researchers at USD brought next year’s round of eggs to distribute between GFNH and the Forest Preserve District (with eggs also over-wintering in the USD labs, we’ve got our eggs in 3 baskets…). These eggs will be kept at cold and stable temperatures (3-4°C) until early April, when we’ll begin to warm them and start next year’s hatch.
By: Beth Glidewell

Propagating mussels is difficult for lots of reasons, but their dependence on a live host fish always creates a challenge. Fish survival at the hatchery is usually strong, but the more you handle them, the more prone they are to disease since you damage the protective mucous coat or even dislodge scales and infesting fish with freshwater mussel glochidia involves a lot of handling. Propagation becomes even more arduous when the glochidia transform over months, rather than weeks since you have to keep your fish healthy over long, cold months when they don’t eat much and they’d rather be buried in the mud in a deep river hole. Successfully producing juvenile Winged Mapleleaf, a federally endangered mussel, depends on this over-wintering, as does the Washboard, North America’s largest native freshwater mussel.
Less successful seasons see the loss of these host fish due to disease, and therefore the loss of Winged Mapleleaf larvae, but treatments are required to manage illness, while not harming the developing glochidia. One of our graduate pathways interns has taken this topic on as her graduate thesis work. She is treating Washboard-infested Channel Catfish weekly with typical fish disease treatments to determine whether they decrease the number of quality of juveniles dropping off the fish in the spring. Many treatments have been tested in bass infested with Plain Pocketbook to confirm that they don’t impact the new juveniles, but none have been tested for multiple uses, or over multiple months. Being able to manage disease in Winged Mapleleaf-infested Channel Catfish will make a difference in the success of the recovery program for this species and others across the country.
By: Megan Bradley

Volunteers play a vital role in supporting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s mission: working with others, to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Genoa National Fish Hatchery relies on volunteers to manage the bookstore in the Great River Road Interpretive Center and provide information to the general public about the facility, assist with lake sturgeon and brook trout coded wire tagging, pond harvesting in the spring and fall, mussel cage repairs and tagging of freshwater mussels. Volunteers donate their precious time in helping us at the hatchery complete our mission and for that we are extremely appreciative. Even amid a pandemic, volunteers stepped up to the plate to lend a helping hand while following federal guidelines on mask mandates and social distancing. A combination on 62 volunteers tagged over 60 thousand lake sturgeon and brook trout and donated 229 hours of their time, 12 volunteers harvested fish and mussel ponds and tagged mussels for 25 hours, and 6 volunteers teamed up to staff our visitor center bookstore and volunteered 275 hours while hosting over 1500 visitors from July-October. In just four months of the year, hatchery volunteers donated 529 hours ~ equivalent to 66 eight-hour workdays!!! From the Genoa Staff: “We appreciate all of you for donating your time to make the USFWS mission successful and for supporting our great aquatic resources.” By: Orey Eckes

Volunteers tagging Brook Trout and Lake Sturgeon. Photo: Erica Rasmussen/USFWS.

Volunteer tagging Fatmucket mussel. Photo: Erica Rasmussen/USFWS.