Activities

The butterfly mussel as seen in
Cumming and Mayer, Field Guide to
Freshwater Mussels of the Midwest.

New partnerships formed to propagate mussels for Illinois

On the first of August, biologists from Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Illinois Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and Genoa National Fish Hatchery (NFH) began a partnership to propagate butterfly mussels. Illinois DNR classified the butterfly mussel as a species of greatest conservation concern in the State's Conservation Action Plan. A state wildlife grant was awarded to TNC to begin propagation efforts for the butterfly mussel.

Because of the existing relationships formed in the recovery efforts for the federally endangered Higgins eye pearlymussel, Illinois DNR and TNC approached Genoa NFH to provide technical assistance for their butterfly mussel program.

Genoa NFH provided blue prints for propagation cages and floating assemblies that TNC then manufactured for the program. The Nature Conservancy organized a mussel collection party on the Mississippi River in which 18 volunteers from Illinois Natural History Survey, Western Illinois University, TNC and Illinois DNR collected 56 butterfly mussels. Once the mussels were collected, Illinois

DNR sent out shocking boats to collect freshwater drum that are needed to help the butterfly mussels complete their life cycle. The larval form of the butterfly as well as most mussels must attach to the gills or fins of a host fish where they undergo a metamorphosis and then excyst off the fish to begin their independent juvenile life stage. After the freshwater drum were collected, the mussel biologist from Genoa NFH joined TNC and Illinois DNR at the Merwin Preserve at Spunky Bottom, IL. After examining the mussels and finding only one female with a few larva, the biologists determined that they had missed the mussel's spawning season. All was not lost however, it was then decided to conduct a density study to determine how many fish to place per culture cage. Freshwater drum are easily over stressed by handling and confinement resulting in high mortality. Results from the density study will help maximize effort by reducing mortality due to crowding in the cages. A second effort to propagate butterfly mussels will be attempted in May 2009.

- Tony Brady

Genoa hatchery and Dairyland Power Cooperative Combine to Provide Outdoor Recreational Opportunities

Dairyland Power Cooperative of Genoa (WI) recently awarded a $12,000 grant to the Genoa (WI) hatchery to construct and install a handicapped accessible fishing pier located at one of the hatchery ponds. The pond will then be kept stocked with fish to allow people with disabilities to enjoy a quality outdoor fishing experience overlooking the bluffs of the Mississippi River.

The pier will also allow the station to expand its annual kids fishing day, a great hit with children ages 6-12. Each May a hatchery pond is made available and stocked with rainbow trout for children to learn how to fish and enjoy quality time in the outdoors with a parent or guardian. The acquisition of the dock will allow more fishing area for the 150+ children and their guardians to safely enjoy the event. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall was on hand at the Genoa station to accept the check from Dairyland Power Environmental Program Representative John Thiel. Director Hall stated, "It takes all of us working together to pass on a conservation legacy to our children, and to help all Americans have an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. Dairyland's gift is an object lesson of how working together, we can partner together to make a lasting impact on the next generation of conservation stewards, and be inclusive in sharing outdoor opportunities for everyone." Specifications are now being distributed to various vendors and it is planned that the acquisition and placement of the dock will occur by next spring.

- Doug Aloisi

Dairyland Power Representative John
Thiel (far left) speaks at check
presentation to Service Director Dale Hall
(far right) at Genoa in August.
photo by Mary Stefanski

Great Lakes Ambassadors from
Genoa NFH. L. Palermo. 7-2008.

Lake sturgeon from Genoa NFH making a splash at Aquariums

This summer, 4 healthy lake sturgeon raised at Genoa National Fish Hatchery were invited to serve as Ambassadors of the Great Lakes in their very own program as part of a week-long program series, Great Lakes Adventure, produced by the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

The sturgeon's program opened at the Film Premier of Mysteries of the Great Lakes, an IMAX film that was co-produced by the Great Lakes Science Center to introduce the ecology of the Great Lakes Region and explore the wonders of the Great Lakes. Great Lakes Adventure was a huge success, attracting over 4500 visitors to the science center that week; Genoa's lake sturgeon were a big part of that success, greeting 2050 people that attended Mysteries of the Great Lakes. After the program series, the young lake sturgeon found a permanent home at the Natural History Museum, where they will continue to serve as ambassadors of the Great Lakes Region. Four more healthy sturgeon from Genoa found a new permanent home at the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, New York. This facility helps educate all ages about science and environmental issues, and teaches how humans may have a positive of negative effect on ecosystems, habitat, and the plants and animals that are an essential part of them.

Now, with lake sturgeon as part of the program, visitors can learn about the lake sturgeon life cycle, their biology and anatomy, and why this ancient species needs our help to survive in the wild. The Seneca Park Zoo greets over 300,000 visitors annually.

Genoa has been raising lake sturgeon to support federal, state, and tribal restoration efforts in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri since 1995. Threatened populations have suffered overharvest and habitat destruction since the late 1800's, and because female lake sturgeon may not reproduce until they are 22 years or more, restoration efforts will take many years to reach the goal of establishing self-sustaining populations.

These new partners promise to be a strong voice for conservation awareness, and will help teach millions why this ancient species needs our help to survive in the wild.

- Jenny Walker

Lake sturgeon from Genoa greeting
visitors to the Great Lakes Adventure
Program. L. Palermo, 7-2008.

Long time volunteers Chuck Snyder
and Gill Gainsworth tagging through
a batch of sturgeon at the Genoa
National Fish Hatchery.

Local Volunteers Help Tag Lake Sturgeon For Ongoing Restoration

During the summer of 2008, the crew of the Genoa National Fish Hatchery (NFH) and Friends of the Upper Mississippi River Fisheries Services (FUMFS) volunteers Chuck Snyder, Gill Gainsworth, Chuck Chihak and daughter Laura coded wire tagged 23,000 of its approximately 60,000 6" lake sturgeon for stocking into the White Earth and Red Lake Reservations of Minnesota.

The entire tagging operation took approximately 80 hours to accomplish. Each fish received a tiny stainless steel sliver of metal wire injected intramuscularly. The tag is approximately 1/16th of an inch long and cannot be seen on the fish once it is injected. However, with the use of a metal detecting wand, the tag can be identified. This method aids fishery management biologists in determining the effectiveness of each restoration program by distinguishing between hatchery and wild fish. Each year, the sturgeon are tagged in a different location in order to differentiate year classes during sampling. Since 1994, the Genoa NFH has been working to restore lake sturgeon populations which have declined due to the loss of habitat, pollution, and overfishing.

Lake Sturgeon being tagged underneath
one of the scutes with a coded wire tag
at the genoa national fish hatchery.

The species is considered either threatened or endangered in all but one (Wisconsin) of the historical 20 states within its range. The Genoa NFH cooperates with the La Crosse National Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office and the La Crosse Fish Health Lab to annually provide sturgeon to the states of Missouri, and Minnesota as well as tribal governments in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

- Nick Starzl

Chorine is the current chemical of choice for removal of zebra mussels in cooling systems. However, the use of chorine harms non-target species and leads to the increase of dioxins in the environment. Dioxins are carcinogens that are known to bioaccumulate in the environment. Early studies by Rach indicate that biobullets are successful at killing zebra mussels, while not harming native mussels. Biogullets also breakdown to non-toxic chemicals if not assimilated by the zebra mussels within a few hours.

A second round of tests is scheduled for this summer. To complete his study, Rach needed native mussels encrusted with zebra mussels. In order to collect the mussels Rach asked Genoa National Fish Hatchery's mussel biologist to assist in the collection of the mussels by using SCUBA gear to locate and collect the mussels. Fifty, three ridge mussels and nearly a dozen other species of mussels were collected in about an hour's worth of diving. The native and zebra mussels are being held at UMESC until the time of the test. Results from this biobullet test will indicate if zebra mussel encrusted natives are susceptible to the effects of the biobullet. Should the biobullets work as planned, then we may have our fist target specific chemical to combat the zebra invasion, in the presence of native mussels.

- Tony Brady

A current map showing the distribution
of zebra mussel in the United States.

Mussels Reintroduced into Restored Stream in the Driftless Region

Iowa is a major agriculture state producing food for millions of hungry Americans. Unfortunately, some agricultural land use practices have contributed to a decline in water quality in many of the streams and rivers located in Iowa.

Many of these impacted streams are located in the Driftless Region, an area of peculiar topography in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois that hosts unique species and habitats due to the lack of glacial ice migration through the Region. Due to changes in land use practices and point source pollution, populations of native mussels once abundant in the streams and rivers of Iowa, have either declined or have been extirpated. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Department of Natural Resources has recently completed a stream restoration in Jones county along a stretch of Mineral Creek in cooperation with a large land owner.

Riffle-Pool area constructed in Mineral
creek located at the head of the
mussel reintroduction area.

Personnel from the Iowa Department of
Natural Resources, Iowa Department of
Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and
the Genoa National Fish Hatchery
preparing to stock native mussels in a
rehabilitated stretch of Mineral Creek,
Jones County, Iowa, Aug. 2008.

The land owner has removed cattle from and fenced off the affected areas to provide stream bank stability and the DNR constructed a riffle and pool stretch in the creek to restore stream habitat for aquatic organisms. On August 18th, the Genoa National Fish Hatchery was able to provide over 600 cultured 2 year old subadult fatmucket mussels to stock in four sections of the restored reach of Mineral Creek. The mussels were hand placed into substrate by personnel from the Genoa National Fish Hatchery and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Some of the mussels were fitted with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags to determine if they can be located in the future with a sensing wand dragged over the stream bottom. Along with PIT tagging, mussels were also tagged with traditional glued on numbered tags which can be tracked to stocking location and date. Tagging mussels helps biologists determine the conditions most conducive for long- term survival and reproductive success.
Information gained from the Mineral Creek rehabilitation and restocking effort will be directly applicable to future watershed restoration efforts in Iowa as well as throughout the nation.

- James Luoma

Endangered Freshwater Mussels Thrive In Spite of the 2008 Iowa Floods.

In a 10 month time span, Iowa rivers have undergone two major flood events including the record setting flood of June 2008.

The effects of the floods on the inhabitants living along Iowa rivers were well documented by local and national news organizations, but what about the inhabitants that make their homes on the bottom of these rivers?

Biologists from Genoa National Fish Hatchery, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources set out to see how the freshwater mussels in the Wapsipinicon River, IA were doing after the floods. The Wapsipinicon River is one of the sites where federal and state agencies have been working for the past seven years to reintroduce the federally endangered Higgins eye pearly mussel.

Aerial photograph of one Iowa community
impacted by the 2008 flood.

Five of the 16 Higgins eye pearlymussels
found during the survey at Central City.
Photo by Tatsuaki Nakato

Surveys conducted around the Central City area in 2005 and 2006 produced a total of 10 Higgins eye indicating that the recovery effort was working. A second recovery site on the Wapsipinicon River, located below the dam in Anamosa, had never been surveyed until this August when biologists converged on the site to determine the success at the Anamosa site. Biologists were excited to find two young Higgins eye within the first two hours of searching, while third Higgins eye was found later that afternoon. The second day of the survey took the biologists back to Central City, where an amazing 16 Higgins eye were found throughout a four mile stretch of river.

One of the 16 Higgins eye was recaptured from the 2006 survey as indicated by the number tag that was glued to the shell after its first collection. The documentation of Higgins eye in this four mile stretch of river raised the question how far down stream from Central City have the Higgins eye gone? Day three of the survey took biologists 19 miles further downstream to Stone City, located between Central City and Anamosa dam. On this chilly, rainy day a single Higgins eye was found along a muddy bank of the Wapsipinicon River just upstream from Stone City, indicating that the Higgins eye recovery effort has produced sub-adult Higgins eye mussels in over 30 river miles of the Wapsipinicon River.

Scott Gritters, Iowa DNR, shows off a
Higgins eye pearlymussel found
19 miles below the stocking site.
Photo by Tatsuaki Nakato

A total of 29 Higgins eye have been collected and tagged from the Wapsipinicon River, yet only a fraction of the river has been surveyed indicating that there could be thousands of Higgins eye now living in the Wapsipincon River.

- Tony Brady

Chaseburg Rod and Gun Club members
demonstrating treestand safety.

Get Outside and Get Fishing!!

Partnerships between the Service and other organizations can be very effective when reaching out to kids and families to encourage outdoor activities.

On September 6, the Chaseburg Rod and Gun Club held its annual free event inviting kids and families from surrounding communities to come out and learn how to shoot clay pigeons, load and shoot a muzzle loader, throw an axe to hit a target, and get involved in hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities. This year over 30 kids and 20 adults attended the event, and participated in educational sessions provided by Genoa National Fish Hatchery, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and members of the Chaseburg Rod and Gun Club. Teaming up for events like this one allows Genoa and other organizations to reach a wide crowd with varying interests, and introduce fishing and fish management practices, the Service mission, hunting and fishing rules, guidelines, and ethics to kids and families in a fun, outdoor environment.

- Jenny Walker

Biologist Tony Brady (Genoa NFH),
John Johnston (Jordon River NFH), and
Jim Boase (Alpena NWCO) record data on
mussels collected during the survey.

Hatcheries, Refuges, and Conservation Offices (Oh My!) work together for common goal

An unnamed hatchery manager that once said "This ain't your grandpaw's fish hatchery", meaning that as federal fish hatcheries evolve to meet new changes and programs, the hatchery's staff has taken on duties normally not associated with traditional hatchery aquaculture. One example is when Genoa National Fish Hatchery began a freshwater mussel program to assist in the recovery of the federally endangered Higgins eye pearlymussel, and hired a mussel propagation biologist for the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Along with knowledge about mussel propagation, this new biologist brought to the hatchery the ability to go off station and conduct mussel surveys.

Mussel Biologist Tony Brady, measures
a mussel collected during the survey
conducted on the Shiawassee NWR

The most recent mussel survey that Genoa NFH assisted with was conducted in the waters of the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, located near Saginaw, MI. This was a unique situation in which not only did Genoa NFH and Shiawassee NWR personnel participate, but the survey was headed up by the Alpena National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office and had participation from Jordan River NFH, the East Lansing Field Office and the Michigan Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

The Shiawassee NWR is situated where four rivers (Cass, Shiawassee, Flint and Tittabawassee) merge together to form the Saginaw River which then flows into Lake Huron. Prior knowledge of the Refuge's mussel community was limited to five species, however that number grew by two after the first 30 minutes of searching on the Cass River. The survey produced a total of 19 live native mussel species in the Refuge or within a few miles upstream of the Refuge. Two of the 19 species are listed at either threatened or endangered in the State of Michigan and were found on the Refuge, giving the Refuge exciting new species to manage.