Project Title: Replace 9 Clay Pond Liners (FFS #R6PC)

State: North Dakota

Project Description: Recovery Act funding will enable the Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery (NFH) in North Dakota to replace 9 deteriorated clay pond liners with polyethylene liners. Pond liners at Garrison Dam NFH have proven effective for increasing fish production and stabilizing survival swings associated with pond culture. The results of the liners are impressive: hatchery employees are producing more fish at a larger size with less effort and no chemicals, and are seeing improved stability in the harvests. Garrison Dam NFH is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s largest walleye production hatchery, and is responsible for providing walleye to anglers in many western states, including North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho and Nevada.

Garrison Dam NFH was originally established in 1957 to provide fish for recreational fishing in new reservoirs created by Federal water development projects in the Midwest. Today, the hatchery continues to provide management and production of many freshwater fishes for the Missouri River dam development projects, national wildlife refuges, tribal waters, and state programs of North Dakota. The original clay liners in the Garrison Dam NFH ponds were effective in preventing water loss, but their integrity had been lost over 40 years of service. Some ponds had water losses in excess of 250,000 gallons per day; fish production under those conditions was not practical. In 2002, a single pond was lined with polyethylene to evaluate the effect. The following year, walleye production in that pond increased 13 fold and the size of walleye produced was nearly twice that of earthen lined ponds.

The liners also alleviate issues associated with overpopulation of clam shrimp, invertebrates that live in ephemeral ponds in this area. The shrimp are planktivors and live in clay pond bottoms. The shrimp create turbid conditions in the ponds, shut down light penetration, and consequently disrupt the food chain critical to fish production. Polyethylene liners effectively prevent clam shrimp from impacting production and warm the water, stimulating growth in the food chain and fish. The pond liners purchased with Recovery Act funding will enable the Garrison Dam NFH to more effectively manage its ponds and give biologists the resources they need to maintain the fisheries.

Originally posted 07/14/2009

Photos:

Pond liner replacement process that will be used at Garrison Dam NFH

Stocking walleye in a lined pond at Garrison Dam NFH