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Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery near Vernal, Utah during the winter (2014).
Photo: Ian Harding/USFWS
Black Rocks, a mile-long stretch deep water in the Ruby Horsethief Canyon, is a critical habitat to the endangered humpback chub.
Photo: Karie Hiam/USFWS
When a “trout” is not a trout:
The common names used for fishes sometimes have little to do with how they are classified biologically.
Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) are members of the “trout” family Salmonidae as are salmon, grayling, and whitefish. However, technically speaking, Bull Trout are actually classified as char (Genus: Salvelinus).
One general difference between trout and char is that trout have light colored bodies with dark spots and char have dark-colored bodies with light spots.
Since 1997, the Montana Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office continues to work cooperatively with the Blackfeet Tribe, Glacier National Park, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to focus on gathering important information on the status and biology of the federally threatened St. Mary River Bull Trout population in north-west Montana.
Photo Credit: USFWS/ Jim Mogen
Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery sits in a deep canyon near the Utah-Colorado border (2018).
Photo: USFWS
Pallid sturgeon at Gains Point National Fish Hatchery. The pallid sturgeon, federally listed as endangered, is an ancient fish that can live up to 50 years, grow up to 6 feet long and weigh up to 85 pounds. The construction of dams and dredging has caused river habitat to change, preventing the fish from reproducing. Pallid sturgeon require fast flowing water over a gravel or sand bottom to spawn. Learn more about: www.fws.gov/Midwest/endangered/fishes/PallidSturgeon/inde...
Photo credit: Ryan Hagerty/USFWS
The yaqui chub has been extirpated from its historical habitat; however, introduced populations exist in Leslie Canyon in the Swisshelm Mountains in San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge, and in ponds and the mainstream of West Turkey Creek in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona. Learn more about: www.fws.gov/endangered/about/ep_22_2011.html
Photo credit: Bill Radke/USFWS
Polyodon spathula or Paddleï¬sh have skeletons comprised of cartilage, not bone, like sharks. Paddlefish are filter feeders and feed by swimming through open water with their mouths open and allowing their close-set gill rakers to capture their microscopic food. Large specimens have been reported to weigh as much as 199 kg. (438 lbs., 11.5 oz. and reach 221 cm in total length ( 7 ft. 3 in. in length). The eggs of an adult female paddleï¬sh can easily weigh 9.1 kg (20 lbs.) or more. Learn more about: www.fws.gov/fisheries/freshwater-fish-of-america/paddlefi...
Photo credit: Ryan Hagerty
Lampreys belong to a primitive group of fishes that are eel-like in form but lack the jaws and paired fins of true fishes. These species have a round sucker-like mouth, no scales, and breathing holes instead of gills. Identification of lampreys depends largely on the number, structure, and position of teeth found in adult lamprey; adult Pacific lampreys are characterized by the presence of 3 large teeth and posterior teeth on the oral disc. As larvae (ammocoetes), they are nearly indistinguishable from other lampreys. Learn more about: www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/articles.cfm?id=149489457 Photo credit: Freshwaters Illustrated/USFWS
Credited per Sean Connolly, USFWS
Close-up of the sharp teeth of a walleye held by a staff member of the Grand Junction Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office.
Photo: USFWS
Truck used by Air Force Wildland Fire Management at Grand Forks Air Force Base for removal of invasive Russian olive trees (2018).
Photo: USFWS
Coho and sockeye migration in the Russian River. Alaska. The coho salmon is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family, one of the several species of Pacific salmon. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers".
Sockeye salmon, also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, or blueback salmon, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a Pacific salmon that is primarily red in hue during spawning. Photo credit: Ryan Hagerty/USFWS
Read more about: www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/coho-salmon
Two electrofishing boats used by the Grand Junction Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office on shore near Canyonlands National Park, Utah.
Photo: USFWS
Public outreach is essential to the continuing survival of fish and wildlife. Demand for adequate outreach about salmon issues and hatchery roles in mitigating for hydroelectric projects on the Columbia River is increasing. Communication builds understanding and allows people to make informed decisions about the future of our natural resources. Carson National Fish Hatchery (WA) is located in the beautiful Gifford Pinchot National Forest attracting hundreds of visitors annually. The Hatchery host an annual ADA Fishing Day and a Kid's Fishing Day each September. The facility also provides salmon eggs for "Salmon in the Classroom" in the Stevenson/Carson Schools.
Photo by Cheri A. Anderson/USFWS.
This federally threatened species is found in five tributaries to the middle Tennessee River and the headwaters of tributaries of the Duck River system. As the common name suggests, Slackwater Darters live in slack water of small to medium streams during most of the year. In the breeding season, they move to groundwater seeps in pastures and forests to spawn. Slackwater Darters have an orange belly with an iridescent blue stripe along the side. Their scientific name honors Dr. Herb Boschung, a renowned ichthyologist at the University of Alabama. Learn more about: tnacifin.com/fish/slackwater-darter-etheostoma-boschungi
Photo credit: Dick Biggins/USFWS
An alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) preparing to eat a trout. Photographed at Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery in Yankton, South Dakota.
Photo: Sam Stukel/USFWS
Carpsucker captured in the Missouri River System by the Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (2015).
Photo: USFWS
Photo taken by Nick Bloomfield/USFWS
Asian carps monitoring has intensified since collection of positive eDNA samples and capture of a bighead carp in Lake Calumet, Illinois in June 2010. The La Crosse Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office has actively participated in completion of this effort through additional sampling via netting, electrofishing, eDNA sample collection and processing, and through the use of underwater camera technology with the DIDSON equipment.
Razorback suckers or Xyrauchen texanus can live for more than 40 years and weigh up to 14 lbs. (6.4 kg). The common length for the razorback sucker is 50 cm (19.7 in) with a maximum reported length of 91 cm (36 in). Learn more about: www.fws.gov/fisheries/freshwater-fish-of-america/razorbac...
Photo credit: Sam Stukel/USFWS
Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office sampling fish population on the Little Missouri River in western North Dakota (2015).
Photo: USFWS
An adult female Yazoo darter (Etheostoma raneyi) at the University of Mississippi Field Station.
Learn more about: www.fws.gov/MississippiES/Special%20Issue%20Yazoo%20Darte...
Photo credit: Public Domain
The Colorado River near Lathrop Canyon at dusk, photographed during an endangered fish survey led by the Grand Junction Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in 2020.
Photo: USFWS
A male Wyoming toad at Saratoga National Fish Hatchery is suspended with a parachute cord awaiting its fitting of a radio telemetry belt.
Photo: Ana Bode/USFWS
Arkansas darter (Etheostoma cragini) populations are scattered among some small, spring-fed tributaries of the Arkansas River basin. This fish species is actually rare in Arkansas. The small streams occupied by Arkansas darters have slow current and silt substrates. The darters shelter in watercress and other aquatic plants, overhanging or flooded terrestrial vegetation, and even in the loose silt of the stream bottom. They grow to a maximum size of around two inches and feed on snails, isopods, a variety of aquatic insects, and some plant material. Photo credit: Daniel Fennel/USFWS
North Dakota Game and Fish help staff at Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery spawn shovelnose sturgeon (2018).
Photo: Rob Holm/USFWS
An engineered rock ramp on East Divide Creek granted access to an extra 5 miles of preferred habitat to native Bluehead Sucker while maintaining water conveyance to the private water rights holder (2019).
The East Divide Creek project was part of the Desert Fish Habitat Partnership with the Middle Colorado Watershed Council. Partners involved: Middle Colorado Watershed Council, Bureau of Land Management, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, USFWS
Photo: Middle Colorado Watershed Council
Ponds and the exterior of the auquarium at Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery during the winter (2019-2020).
Video: Sam Stukel/USFWS
The Colorado Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office wins the Natural Resources Conservation Communication, Conservation Partnership award at the National Military Fish and Wildlife Association (NMFWA).
The Service has responsibility under the Endangered Species Act for the recovery of the pallid sturgeon. Short term recovery goals are focused on capturing adult fish, spawning them in captivity, and releasing progeny back into the wild to stabilize the species. The capturing of wild adults whose genetics have not been represented in the propagation program is becoming increasingly difficult. This year 2016, we were able to locate only four fish that had not contributed significantly to the recovery effort. These fish were transported to the Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery, ND for spawning. Eggs from the spawning event were transferred to two additional fish hatcheries for propagation and to add to the captive broodstock program. Our stocking program is currently being used to balance the genetic contribution of extant pallid sturgeon population in the upper basin recovery priority areas. Significant stocking events over the past decade have stabilized the population setting the stage for recovery. Photo by Rob Holm/USFWS.
www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/fisheries/garrisonDam.php
www.fws.gov/Midwest/endangered/fishes/PallidSturgeon/inde...
Electrofishing rafts along the San Juan River used for Razorback and Pikeminnow population sampling with the New Mexico FWCO, Grand Junction FWCO, and Navajo Nation.
Photo by Dana Shellhorn/USFWS
Stocking paddlefish fry into a rearing pond at Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery (2018).
Photo: Rob Holm/USFWS
Rachel Arrick, a PhD student from the University of Wyoming uses a little bit of creativity to follow the University's COVID-19 protocol. Rachel uses parachute cord to suspend Wyoming toads in order to put radio telemetry belts on them at Saratoga National Fish Hatchery.
Photo: Ana Bode/USFWS
Alligator gar are a long lived riverine species that once inhabited the majority of waters comprising the Mississippi River Basin. They are considered to be the apex predator in any freshwater environment that they inhabit. Gator gar also play an important role in eliminating invasive fish species and controlling rough fish populations. In FY2016, Private John Allen National Fish Hatchery (MS) staff collected fourteen adult alligator gar brood from the MS River drainage during April 2016. A total of 325,000 eggs were secured from the mating of these fish. Over 60,000 fry were distributed to other State and Federal facilities for grow out and eventual stockings. The fingerlings produced from these fry will be used to support restoration throughout their native range where suitable habitat remains. USFWS photo.
www.fws.gov/warmsprings/FishHatchery/species/alligatorgar...
Volunteers led by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist electrofish for samples from Corral Creek to be studied by Bozeman Fish Health Center during health survey of Rocky Mountain National Park (2017).
Photo: Tammy Weiss/USFWS
Rock Creek Basin Greenback Cutthroat Trout Restoration Project sign in hiking area near Leadville National Fish Hatchery (2016).
Photo: Bozeman Fish Health Center, USFWS
Conservation Agreement #TroutTuesday
Interior Redband Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss spp.) are listed as species of concern in under the Endangered Species Act. Habitat loss, fragmentation of current habitat, isolation of existing populations, and hybridization with coastal rainbow trout and cutthroat trout are the principal issues facing inland redband trout. Learn more about: www.fws.gov/pacific/fisheries/IntRedbandTrout.cfm
Photo credit: Joe Helseth/USFWS
The sun rises on a snowy winter morning at Jackson National Fish Hatchery in Jackson, Wyoming.
Photo: Liz Sunshine/USFWS
Landlocked Atlantic salmon are an important part of the Lake Champlain ecosystem and fishery. Native salmon were extirpated in the Lake Champlain Basin approximately 150 years ago, primarily due to habitat destruction in spawning tributaries and over fishing. Recent management actions have provided new opportunities to restore salmon populations in the lake. USFWS, Vermont, and New York have established successful stocking programs for salmon and effective sea lamprey control efforts. Increased survival of salmon to older age classes, because of decreased lamprey wounding, provides new opportunities for adult salmon to complete their spawning migrations back to Lake Champlain tributaries. In addition, fish passage and riparian habitat restoration efforts have provided access to key salmon spawning and rearing habitats in VT and NY. Photo by Nicole Hill/Concordia University.
Ben Schleicher with a humpback chub captured during Grand Junction Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office night-time humpback chub monitoring.
Photo: USFWS
ROOOOOOOAAAAAD TRIP!
The Duck of Justice packed a tiny knapsack and rolled heavy with the gang from Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery. He did so with 191,000 of his biggest fans. Salmon fry. AKA, baby salmon.
Monty Python fan (and biologist) Denise Buckley set up the event and as you can see the DOJ was in all the photos. The magnificent, "The Leaper" statue at CBNFH was the back drop for several shots. The Atlantic Salmon plays a huge role in Maine's river heritage.
The gang from the hatchery posed appropriately and yes, they all smelled like fish. This is why they seem to hang together and don't make eye contact with regular citizenry at coffee and pee breaks. Don't judge.
166,000 friends were dropped in Wassataquoik Steam. Buckley advised that the best way to remember the name is to refer to it by it's nickname. "Was-that-a-rock" Stream. The DOJ is also seen with his "Flat Salmon" road buddy while sitting on the rail of the bridge at Katahdin Brook where about 25,000 fry were placed by Megan and Tucker. Interns at the hatchery also need to smell like fish.
BTW, World Fish Migration Day is May 20th. That's today. Since it was National Police Week as well, Buckley and her bio-buddies felt this road-guest was a good fit. Buckley called it an, "outreach superstorm." She also started quoting Monty Python movies. Mostly from the Holy Grail but she knows them all.
Buckley said that "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam" was on the stream side lunch menu.
All in all a great day for the duck. Thanks for taking him along.
The men and women of the Bangor Police Department urge everyone to keep their hands to themselves, leave other people's things alone and be kind to one another.
We will be here! We have a duck.
Find Bangor Police on Facebook: bit.ly/27HGfjw
Photo taken by Nick Bloomfield/USFWS
Asian carp are currently in the Mississippi Basin competing with native fish for food and space. Movement of bighead and silver carp past the electrical barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and into the Great Lakes, could disrupt ecosystem function, resulting in negative effects to the fishery. An interagency Asian carp control strategy framework is being followed that includes actions such as monitoring at fixed location by electrofishing throughout the Chicago Area Waterway System, e-DNA water collection, and netting. La Crosse Fish And Wildlife Conservation Office, WI.
The annual Pathways to Fishing Program is held each year at the Leadville National Fish Hatchery. All the 5th grade classes in Lake County, CO come out to participate! The annual Pathways to Fishing is an 8station program that teaches kids the skills needed to become successful fishermen. These are pictures from the May 2016 Program, Credit: Connie Young-Dubovsky, USFWS.
Zuni bluehead suckers, Catostomus discobolus jarrovii, feed on algae and aquatic invertebrates, require unpolluted, cool and clear water, and are unable to reproduce in places where silt covers and suffocates their eggs. Zuni bluehead suckers are found in stream habitats with shade and substrates such as bedrock, boulders, and cobble. Pools are often edged by emergent aquatic vascular plants.
Photo credit: Angela Palacios/USFWS
The woundfin, Plagopterus argentissimus, is a small (about two inches in length) minnow usually found in the main channel of swift, turbid, warm streams over sand substrate. Woundfin diets are quite varied, consisting of insects, insect larvae, other invertebrates, algae, and detritus. The species spawns during the spring in swift shallow water over gravel substrate. Eggs are fertilized in the water and then fall to the bottom; no parental care is given to the eggs or young. Learn more about: www.fws.gov/nevada/protected_species/fish/species/woundfi...
Photo credit: Matthew Patterson/USFWS
Gear raft floating along the San Juan River during Razorback and Pikeminnow population sampling with the New Mexico FWCO, Grand Junction FWCO, and Navajo Nation.
Photo by Dana Shellhorn/USFWS
Blue sucker captured by the Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office during fish survey (2015).
Photo: USFWS
The Sacramento River in northern California is the only river in the world which has four distinct runs of Chinook salmon (fall, late fall, winter and spring); steelhead are also found in the system. In 2015, between October and November 13,314 salmon were brought into the hatchery and over 3,970 pairs were spawned. Approximately 12,159,899 fall Chinook salmon juveniles were reared at Coleman National Fish Hatchery and were released on station into Battle Creek. Over 58,420 pounds of salmon were provided to Bureau of Indian Affairs for food purposes. Approximately 3,000 adults remained in Battle Creek to spawn naturally.
Photo by Brett Galyean/USFWS.