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Kent Ware
Hatchery Manager
P.O.
Box 69
7030 Bears Bluff Road
Wadmalaw
Island, SC 29487
(843)
559-2315
FAX: (843) 559-3002
E-mail: rw4_fr_bears_bluff@fws.gov
Hours
of Operation:
Monday-Friday
7:30 am -- 4:00 pm
 Fact
Sheet
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Station
Facts
- Bears Bluff National Fish
Hatchery is a unit of the Warm Springs Fish Technology Center, a component
of the Warm Springs Regional Fisheries
Center, Warm Springs, Georgia.
- Area consists of 31 acres
bordering the Edisto River south of Charleston, South Carolina.
- Facilities include the world’s
largest shortnose sturgeon broodstock holding/spawning facility; eight
recirculated intensive culture/holding systems; a large recirculated
egg incubation/larval rearing system; three large tanks for holding
larger fish species; numerous holding and intensive rearing tanks; and
six salt and freshwater ponds.
- Number of staff: four.
- Operations budget: (FY
05) $362,000.
Geographic Area Covered
- Primary area of concern
is South Carolina. However, several freshwater and saltwater aquatic
species, such as the shortnose sturgeon, benefit from our restoration
and recovery efforts.
Station Goals
- Restore and manage
interjurisdictional coastal and
riverine fishes, such as the
shortnose sturgeon, Atlantic
sturgeon, and red drum.
- Recover of species listed
under the Endangered Species Act, such as the shortnose sturgeon and
candidate species such as the Atlantic sturgeon.
- Pioneer and develop culture
techniques for both freshwater and saltwater species.
- Develop hatchery product
evaluation techniques.
Services Provided To
- Federal agencies including
other Fish and Wildlife Service program offices.
- State agencies.
- Native American tribes.
- Military bases.
- Universities.
- Non-governmental organizations
(NGOs).
- The public.
Activity Highlights
- Produced 75,066 endangered
shortnose sturgeon fry in FY 2005.
- Completed baseline genetic,
culture, hatchery, and tagging research on shortnose sturgeon.
- Successfully completed
red drum rearing season in station’s saltwater ponds in FY 2004-05.
Total fish stocked = 535,000 red drum.
- Entered into new partnerships
with COE and EPA for restoration of shortnose sturgeon.
Fish Species and Capability
- Shortnose sturgeon: 5-year
classes of progeny of wild stock are held on station for study activities,
addressing reproduction, culture, tagging and hatchery techniques.
- Atlantic sturgeon: initiating
activities to address questions on reproduction and culture.
- Red drum: Batch-cultured
in saltwater ponds, marked and released into South Carolina waters.
- Station has flexible and
unique capabilities available to propagate and study most freshwater
and saltwater aquatic species found in South Atlantic Coastal Region.
Public Use Opportunities
- Environmental education
and outreach to tour groups and individual visitors.
- Informational kiosk installed
to familiarize visitors with station and service goals.
- Remote location with beautiful
preserved live oak and Spanish moss habitat provides excellent birding,
wildlife watching and picnicking opportunities for the public.
- Five major endangered or
threatened species can be viewed on the station (wood storks, brown
pelicans, American alligators, bald eagles, peregrine falcons and shortnose
sturgeons).
- Aquatic displays for off-site
events.
Calender of Events
June: Kids
Fishing Day and Open House in support of National Fishing Week.
Questions
and Answers
What is a shortnose sturgeon
and why is it endangered?
The shortnose sturgeon
and its much larger cousin the Atlantic sturgeon are members of the most
ancient group of fishes in the world. These fish are still very much in
demand on the black market for caviar. The shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon
were once plentiful in most rivers on the Atlantic coast extending from
the St. Johns River in Florida to the St. Johns River in New Brunswick
where there was a fairly good size commercial fishery for both caviar
and flesh.
Dams that block their natural upriver migrations to spawn, over fishing,
dredging, habitat loss, and pollution have contributed to the reduction
of the populations. The shortnose was declared a federally endangered
species in 1967.
Can you describe the work done
at Bears Bluff with the Shortnose Sturgeon?
The Bears Bluff National Fish
Hatchery is at the forefront of a
national effort to replenish the once
commercially valuable species to its
natural river habitats up and down
the East Coast. Bears Bluff is the
largest holding/spawning facility in
the world for shortnose sturgeon. Its
mission is to improve fish culture
techniques as part of the final “Shortnose Sturgeon Recovery
Plan of 1998.” Juvenile sturgeon produced
at the facility are used in on-station
research and are distributed to other
research facilities, such as
universities, fish hatcheries, other
U.S. Fish and Wildlife fish technology
centers, and other government
facilities. No hatchery-produced
sturgeon are used for restocking,
although that is a probable long-term
objective of the recovery effort.
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