An endangered mussel cage culture. - FWS photo

Roger Gordon and Doug Aloisi represented the Genoa station and the Fish and Wildlife Service at the American Fisheries Society's annual meeting in September, speaking at the symposium, "Culture of Species at Risk". 

This special symposium was sponsored by the Fish Culture section of the Society, and was initiated to highlight the methodologies of culturing some of the nation's most threatened and endangered aquatic resources.  Some of the species highlighted during the session were endangered Atlantic and Pacific salmon populations, and the hatchery's own lake sturgeon and Higgins Eye Pearlymussel culture programs. 

Fisheries scientists gathered from across the globe to share information through the annual meeting that provides a great forum for the promotion of sound scientific practices in propagation programs.  It also provides for an informal scientific review of our programs as we practice adaptive management in our long-term restoration and recovery efforts.   

Highlights of the two talks featured the development of station specific standard operating procedures from egg to release for lake sturgeon culture, and recent successes in the cage culture of Higgins Eye Pearly mussels that resulted in the creation of a yearclass of over 22,000 sub-adult mussels for use in the recovery effort.