(Return matching records with ALLANY of these words.)    ................................................................ state Choose State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illiniois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississipi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming District of Columbia    regions Choose region Pacific Southwest Midwest Southeast Northeast Mountain-Prairie Alaska California-Nevada All Regions    ................................................................ ................................................................ Journal Entry   Back Lake Sturgeon Production at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery Increases Midwest Region, September 15, 2004 Print Friendly Version With the advent of a new sturgeon culture building this year, expectations were high among the hatchery crew to increase the production of lake sturgeon at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery. Four restoration programs ranging throughout the upper midwest initiated the expansion. Since 1994, Genoa has been working to restore lake sturgeon populations in waters of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri which have declined due to the loss of habitat, pollution, and overfishing. The species is considered either threatened or endangered in all but one (Wisconsin) of the historical 20 states within its range. Hatchery operations begin in May when wild lake sturgeon begin to spawn. Eggs are collected and transported to the hatchery, where they are incubated for approximately seven days. Initially the sturgeon fry take up very little space, but as they grow throughout the summer, tank densities increase and so the young fish have to be routinely spread out. By August, the lake sturgeon production program uses 2,000 square feet of tank space in three buildings. Genoa released about 20,000 five-to-six-inch sturgeon in 2003. This year the number of fingerling sturgeon released jumped 75 percent to approximately 35,000 -- with the help of money received through competitive funding made available through the 2004 fisheries budget. Many volunteers from the ?Friends of the Upper Mississippi River Fisheries Services? helped tag more than 20,000 sturgeon which took approximately 80 hours to accomplish. Tagging the sturgeon before release identifies each fish as a hatchery-raised fish. This method aids fishery management biologists in determining the effectiveness of each restoration program by distinguishing between hatchery and wild fish. Three lake sturgeon strains are reared at the hatchery. The Wolf river strain is stocked into Legend Lake of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin River strain is stocked into the central Mississippi river near the state of Missouri, and the Rainy river strain is released into Minnesota waters. Rearing of multiple strains benefits restoration programs by releasing fish back into an area from which it originated. Although the sturgeon reared at the hatchery are stocked when they are about six inches long, lake sturgeon adults can attain weights of 200 pounds during their century-long lifespan in the wild, making these stockings a long-term investment. The Genoa National Fish Hatchery achieves its lake sturgeon objectives by partnering with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's La Crosse Fisheries Resource Office, as well as tribal and state agencies within the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri. Contact Info: Midwest Region Public Affairs, 612-713-5313, charles_traxler@fws.gov Send to: From: Notes: ..........................................................................................

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