Separate takes of lake trout eggs in incubators at Genoa NFH. - FWS photo

The Service's lake trout restoration program received a shot in the arm this fall with the arrival of a new year class of wild lake trout eggs to the Genoa National Fish Hatchery, Wisconsin. 

These eggs originated from the important Seneca Lake (NY) strain of lake trout.  This strain of lake trout is important to Great Lakes lake trout restoration because they appear to survive well in waters with sea lamprey predation occurring. 

An important component in fisheries restoration programs is to ensure that hatchery broodstocks remain genetically diverse, and representative of the originating strain.  To do this, periodic trips to the originating population are taken to collect eggs and mate these resulting fish with existing captive broodstocks of the same strain. 

One of the main hurdles to accomplishing this is to ensure that no disease or pathogen is brought into the hatchery housing the existing captive broodstock.  If this occurred, it could lead to all of the populations housed at the broodstock facility to be destroyed. 

The Fish and Wildlife Service's Great Lakes Region has safeguarded hatchery stocks by creating an isolation facility at the Genoa station. Eggs and resulting fish will be isolated from other fish at the station, held for 18 months and tested 3 times for infectious diseases by the Service's LaCrosse Fish Health Center. 

After clearing these tests, they will be shipped to the Iron River National Fish Hatchery, Wisconsin, and the Allegheny National Fish Hatchery, Pennsylvania, to assist in building broodstock lines for lake trout restoration throughout the Great Lakes basin. 

This year's egg collection was particularly successful, with eggs from 120 females being fertilized with 120 males and transferred to the station.  This large number of originating parents (240) will ensure that the genetic diversity of the hatchery population is high, and should be able to be carried throughout future generations with careful broodstock management. 

Many thanks to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation for allowing us to participate in their annual egg collections in the Finger Lakes system, and for Iron River hatchery for providing funding for the travel to New York to accomplish the egg take and transfer.