The Ashland National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (NFWCO) has the unique distinction of providing technical assistance for the development of numerous tribal fish hatchery programs.  One of the ways we contribute is by publishing a quarterly newsletter.  The Midwest Tribal Aquaculture Network (MTAN) is dedicated to assisting tribal hatchery programs through the sharing of cool/cold water fish culture information.

The most recent addition of the MTAN (Volume 64) has just been completed and is now available on the Internet (http://www.fws.gov/midwest/ashland/mtan/mtan63/mtan_63.html).   This quarter’s newsletter discusses the UWSP - Annual Field Days/Workshop, Plus 2.5 Hatchery Tips, Genoa NFH Upgrades Coaster Egg Incubation System, Calculation of Disease Treatments, The Role of Stress in Fish Disease and Aquatic Animal Drug Approval Partnership Program Updates.

The objective of the MTAN is to provide current information that will help tribal aquaculture programs promote their specific resource needs. Often these needs will be equipment oriented, step-by-step procedural questions or perhaps just the need to contact another facility to ask how they would solve a particular problem.  The MTAN hopes its readers will use this resource to better understand the hatchery operations taking place in your area and to provide contact information to help solve any fish rearing questions you may have.

The MTAN has been assisting tribal fish hatchery programs for the past seventeen years.  The rewards from this kind of technical assistance is in knowing we are providing information that enables hatchery programs to better utilize their resources and provide a healthier product for the fishery.  The MTAN has also helped to educate fish hatchery workers and direct them to other areas so they can better research their specific needs.

Previous issues of the MTAN newsletters are now accessible from the Ashland NFWCO web page.  Readers can access this information by pointing their web browsers to:  http://midwest.fws.gov/ashland/mtan/mtanhome.html