U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Fall 2008 Eddies Reflections on Fisheries Conservation Departments Headwaters 3 American Fishes 10 Watermarks 4 Meanders 30 Eddies Pioneers 8 Vol. 1, No. 3 Publisher Features Gary Frazer, Assistant Director U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service Cryogenics for From Horse Heads Fisheries and Habitat Conservation Conservation–12 to Pellets–22 Irene James Dr. Ann Gannam Editor Craig Springer

Contributing writers Linda Andreasen Ryck Lydecker Bob Hines–A Man Fishingenuity–24 Craig Springer Robert Bakal Mark Madison of Art–14 Josh Bradley Joe Moran John Tertuliani Ann Gannam T. Edward Nickens H. Dale Hall Ken Phillips Irene James John Tertuliani Todd E.A. Larson Judy Toppins Fighting the Diagnosing Amphibian Fungus–20 Disease–28 Dr. Robert Bakal Ken Phillips Editorial Advisors Darren Benjamin, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Richard Christian, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Stuart Leon, Ph.D., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ryck Lydecker, Boat Owners Association of the United States Hal Schramm, Ph.D., U.S. Geological Survey Michael Smith, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (retired) Denise Wagner, Wonders of Wildlife Museum

Assistant Regional Directors – Fisheries Dan Diggs, Pacific Region John Engbring, California and Nevada Region Jaime Geiger, Ph.D., Northeast Region Linda Kelsey, Southeast Region Mike Oetker, Southwest Region LaVerne Smith, Alaska Region Mike Stempel, Mountain-Prairie Region Mike Weimer, Great Lakes–Big Rivers Region

Contact For subscription information visit our web site, www.fws.gov/eddies, email [email protected], call 505 248-6867, or write to: Eddies USFWS Fisheries RM 3118 500 Gold Ave. SW Albuquerque, NM 87103 USPS Design U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service artist, Bob Hines, drew this 1956 Blue Heron Communications postage stamp. See more of his work on page 14. On the Cover A northern pike lingers in the shade of lilies in this 1971 Bob Hines painting. Read about it on page 14. The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Fall 2008 E d d i e s Reflections on Fisheries Conservation is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

CONSERVING

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

2 Eddies Fall 2008 Headwaters Science and the Sublime By Gary Frazer Fish and Wildlife Service, muses in “Meanders” on how the past made him, and how science makes a future for fisheries conservation.

We have an impressive, thoroughly trained, and highly specialized workforce. We have world-class applied research capabilities in raising fish, nutrition, conservation genetics, fish health, and aquatic animal Diagnosing drug approval, providing service and support to our field stations, state agencies, Indian tribes, the aquaculture Disease–28 industry, and the Food and Drug Administration. We have Ken Phillips been developing and applying new knowledge since our inception 137 years ago, and we make this information

USFWS available through the published scientific literature, the breadth of which is illustrated on the back cover. Some consider art and science mutually exclusive. But both endeavors come from, and create, inspiration. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s scientific capabilities have been bolstered in recent years by the leadership of In this autumn issue of Eddies we mix fish art and the Office of the Science Advisor to the Director and by fisheries science. In every autumn issue in years out, the work of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Science we intend to bring to you more fine fish art to delight Committee. Through their collective efforts to advance your eye and inspire your mind. The late Bob Hines is science excellence within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife first up, his biography told by John Tertuliani. Hines Service, everyone in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was one of ours – the only national artist ever in our from the Director on down, adheres to a Scientific Code employ. He was as talented as he was committed to of Professional Conduct; we have vibrant Communities conservation. His northern pike lurks in the weeds on of Practice, such as one recently formed on conservation our cover waiting for a plug to plunk on the water. genetics; we have strong agency support for participation in professional societies; we have re-established U.S. We also profile some of the scientific prowess residing Fish and Wildlife Service publication outlets; and we all within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Fisheries have ready access to a large body of scientific literature Program. on-line through our Conservation Library at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Dr. Ann Gannam proffers that fish nutrition isn’t what Virginia. it used to be in her “Horse Head” story. She chronicles how fish diets evolved from the crude and coarse to As the adage goes, science isn’t a destination; it’s a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serivce artist, Bob Hines, drew this 1956 the refined and complex, based on science, much of it journey. Science is never done, as there will always be postage stamp. See more of his work on page 14. conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. something more to learn – it is cumulative. By keeping our technical capabilities sharp, and constantly growing Irene James tells us about the imperiled pallid sturgeon and applying new scientific knowledge, our efforts at and how cryogenics, borne of exigency two decades fisheries conservation are more effective. That’s good for ago, may be the science to carry 20 or more fish species fish and good for people. into the future. Freezing and storing sperm cells for conserving fish is science-fact, but with science-fiction Enjoy the art! I hope it helps inspire in each of you, as it patina. does in me, the desire to learn and achieve even more. In “Fishingenuity” you will get a snapshot of the conservation genetics work of Drs. Meredith Bartron and Greg Moyer. H. Dale Hall, Director of the U.S. Gary Frazer is the Assistant Director for Fisheries and Habitat Conservation in Washington, DC

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation RunningWatermarks Head Text Florescent fish With the hindsight of history, it seems grossly understated. Calcein is used worldwide to mark fish for population studies. It helps scientists to understand mortality rates and the success of hatchery fish in the wild.

The dye stains fish bones and other hard parts, like scales. In a process that takes about eight minutes, large numbers of small fish are marked via immersion in water mixed with the dye. The mark isn’t visible to the naked eye, so Mohler invented a flashlight that researchers use to read the brilliant marks on fish and assigned the patent to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Thomas Bell/USFWS Thomas Bony scutes and other hard parts on this shovelnose sturgeon show calcein stains. Because waste water mixed with calcein can’t be released into streams, Fish biologist Jerre Mohler at the the North American Journal of Mohler and Kelly Bradley from Lock Northeast Fishery Center in Lamar, Fisheries Management (NAJFM) in Haven University researched ways to Pennsylvania, first discovered 1997, saying of his Atlantic salmon remove it from the water, and found that the non-toxic fluorescent dye, research, “Results suggest that one. They reported such in August calcein, can efficiently mark fish calcein may be a valuable tool for in the NAJFM, thus opening up in large numbers. He reported mass-marking larval fish for long- more uses for the dye with fishes like that in the scientific journal, term hatchery product evaluation.” America shad. F Craig Springer Do your best – for the brookies Urban salmon face storm The Cub Scout motto, “Do Your part of Imaginature, an after- water foe Best,” was in action in August at school collaboration conceived at Fix the habitat, the fish will come. the Jordan River National Fish the Hatchery. The boys are led by And they might die, says research Hatchery. Pack 17 of the Scenic Cubmaster Jon Sumner who is also into the effects of non-point source Trails Council, East Jordan, Vice-President of the Friends of the pollution on the health of salmon Michigan, made history by being Jordan River National Fish Hatchery. in urban watersheds. Jay Davis, the first entity to exercise provisions F Joe Moran a contaminants specialist from the of the National Fish Hatchery USFWS’s Western Washington Volunteer Act of 2006. Congress Fish and Wildlife Office, and authorized in the Act the ability Nathaniel Scholz of NOAA for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Fisheries examined the effects Service’s Fisheries Program to of storm water runoff on salmon accept monetary donations for spawning in streams near Seattle. conservation, and Pack 17 came The work revealed that in 2007, through in a big way with $467 73 percent of female coho salmon in bake sales. The donation died before spawning in Longfellow bought a rearing tank that will Creek where fish habitat had been be part of Jordan River’s Baby restored. Davis and Scholz learned

Brookies program, where fifth- Moore Joan there’s more to habitat than pools and sixth-graders at Mancelona Charlie Wooley (l), Deputy Regional and riffles. Heavy metals and Public Schools will monitor the Director of the Great Lakes - Big Rivers pesticides wash into the creek and growth of brook trout. It’s all Region, accepts the check from Pack 17. thwart salmon reproduction. F Craig Springer

4 Eddies Fall 2008 Running Head Text

Twenty-five years of striped bass conservation The genetically unique Gulf Coast- evaluate recreational fishing; and strain of striped bass was once telemetry studies have revealed common to rivers pouring into the the waters that provide essential Gulf of Mexico. By the 1960’s, its temperatures the fish need. And population had declined significantly now many of those coolwater habitats due to poor water quality and loss have been protected or rehabilitated. of habitat from a wave of dam Recreational fishing in these places construction. The last known is carefully managed. Through the population of native striped bass partnership, Radium Springs on the survived in low numbers in the Flint River was purchased for habitat Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint protection. Dead Lake Dam on the (ACF) river system in Florida, Chipola River was removed, and Georgia and Alabama. the operations at other dams have improved. Biologists have evaluated Twenty-five years ago, these fish passage problems throughout the states and the U.S. Fish and basin. Wildlife Service formed a powerful Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Wildlife and Fish Florida partnership to restore Gulf striped Seven state and six federal hatcheries Gulf Coast-strain striped bass are on bass in the ACF. Some remarkable cooperatively stock more than one the comeback thanks to 25 years of achievements have been made. We million Gulf striped bass a year. New conservation work. know more about its life history and recreational fisheries have been its genetic integrity is safeguarded. created, and anglers have set exciting helping this remarkable 25-year- The partners evaluate each year the new records. This work has been a old partnership ensure the success stocking success and food availability; catalyst for striped bass restoration of this unique and important fish a young-of-year index estimates throughout the Gulf region. Today, across much of its historic range. F year-class strength; creel surveys Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi are Judy Toppins FEATURED FACILITY Warm Springs Regional Fisheries Center

Where: Warm Springs, Georgia When: As Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery in 1899 Then: It was 150 years ago that folks first flocked to the waters of Warm Springs for health. The year-round 88-degree waters were thought to have healing properties. President Franklin Roosevelt visited. The “Cold Springs” of Warm Springs feeds the USFWS hatchery, providing 63-degree water ideal for rearing An aerial view of Warm Springs Regional Fisheries Center, Georgia. fish. They cooperate with other natural resources agencies Now: on conservation genetics, cryopreservation, fish-strain Warm Springs is still a place for health – fish health. information, and triploid grass carp certification. In 1989 a Fish Health Lab was added; a few years Shortnose, lake, and Gulf sturgeons, paddlefish, robust later Warm Springs grew to include a Fish Technology redhorse, and the Gulf Coast-strain striped bass receive Center. The Regional Fisheries Center provides the attention of Warm Springs’ staff. See www.fws.gov/ state-of-the-art fish disease diagnostic services. warmsprings F Judy Toppins Scientists innovate technology for conservation.

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation Running Head Text

Flooded Iowa hatcheries get rainbow trout The Ethical Angler BoatU.S. Chairman and Founder, Richard Schwartz, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall signed an agreement in September to use “The Ethical Angler” creed to remind the public of the great tradition of fishing and its role in conservation. The creed’s responsible fishing practices are based on the word “ANGLERS”:

Avoid spilling and never dump gasoline, oil or other pollutants - on land or in the water.

Never leave trash behind, including worn line, old hooks and bait, and practice recycling. Gary Siegwarth/Iowa DNR GarySiegwarth/Iowa Big Spring State Fish Hatchery under water. Gain knowledge about aquatic nuisance species and how to help Flood waters covered more than not lost; Ennis (MT), Garrison Dam prevent their spread. Iowa’s corn fields last summer. Two (ND), Genoa (WI), Neosho (MO), of the Iowa Department of Natural and White Sulphur Springs (WV) Learn and abide by all fishing Resources fish hatcheries were National Fish Hatcheries helped regulations and boating laws. inundated and a quarter-million make up the deficit, sending 125,300 trout were lost. The Manchester fingerling rainbow trout and 178,300 Educate fellow anglers and especially Fish Hatchery and Big Spring Fish fertilized eggs to Iowa. The stocking new participants about fishing ethics. Hatchery lost some of their brood program will be on track in 2009-10, stocks, and most of their fingerlings noted Iowa DNR supervisor, Mike Respect private property and the and catchable-sized fish. But all is Mason. “We’ve always worked rights of other anglers and outdoor closely with the U.S. Fish and recreationists. Wildlife Service and see them as Save fish for tomorrow by practicing a vital partner in conserving and conservation and learning proper enhancing Iowa’s natural resources” catch-and-release techniques. F Ryck said Mason. “Anglers to Iowa’s 45 Lydecker put-and-take streams and urban trout lakes will be the beneficiaries of the fish.” F Craig Springer Doug Aloisi/USFWS Doug Jim Luoma, Genoa National Fish Gary Siegwarth/Iowa DNR GarySiegwarth/Iowa Hatchery, and Brian Lacey, Iowa DNR Big Spring State Fish Hatchery (on truck) load trout for Iowa anglers.

6 Eddies Fall 2008 Running Head Text

Short in size–long on data A “New Deal” for Passive Integrated Transponders, fish turns 75 or “PIT” tags, tell biologists a great In 1933, 30,000 vagrant young deal about individual fish that have men roamed the roads and rails been tagged and released, and caught looking for work. Not until the again. The tiny tags come in different Civilian Conservation Corps data formats from several makers and other work programs did – and that’s a problem we know they find it. from science published in the North American Journal of Fisheries FDR’s New Deal turned 75 Management. PIT tags are placed years old this year; labor from under a fish’s skin, and an electronic the CCC, WPA, and PWA built reader records the tag’s unique Chattahoochee Forest (GA), information. Biologists at Bears Creston (MT), Dexter (NM), Bluff National Fish Hatchery in SC Genoa (WI), Inks Dam (TX), tested 20 different transmitters and Hagerman (ID), Lamar (PA), 11 different readers and learned they Natchitoches (LA), Uvalde don’t all perform well. Their findings (TX) and Welaka (FL) National reveal the need to use standard Fish Hatcheries – all still in equipment in tagging studies of fish operation. that travel long distances over state lines, like sturgeon and paddlefish. National Fish Hatchery System Researcher James Henne said facilities are on average 64 without standard gear, fish can go years old. F Craig Springer undetected resulting in incorrect Congress Libraryof estimates of population sizes. F Craig Posters like this one encouraged young men Springer to find work with the CCC.

POSTCARDS San Marcos National Fish Hatchery

The original San Marcos National Fish Hatchery was established in 1897 near the headwaters of the San Marcos River in Texas. It was the first warmwater hatchery west of the Mississippi River. The hatchery stocked largemouth bass, bluegill and channel catfish. This hatchery also conducted some of the earliest studies on the South African fish, tilapia. The original hatchery was turned over to Southwest Texas State University in 1965. It was replaced in 1978 by the San Marcos National Fish Hatchery and Technology Center. The new Center has a greatly expanded mission of providing refugia for federally threatened or endangered plants, invertebrates, amphibians, and fish.F Mark Madison

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation Pioneers By Dr. Todd E.A. Larson Dr. James Alexander Henshall

During his lifetime, Dr. James Although he is better known today Alexander Henshall (1836-1925) had as a promoter and historian of many sobriquets, from the “Apostle fishing tackle and techniques, much of the Black Bass” to the “Dean of of the last half of his life was spent American Anglers.” He was arguably in earnest study of various fish and the first, and undoubtedly became the their artificial breeding. He wrote second. But an aspect of his career on a multiplicity of subjects, from that nearly always gets overshadowed exploding the myth of the “Gogebic is his writings on fish culture. Razor-Back,” emaciated smallmouth Henshall himself considered these bass suffering from tapeworms writings among his most important once thought to be a new species, to contributions to fishing in America. discourses on the peculiarities of fish eggs. In 1888 he was named secretary The last decades of the nineteenth of the Ohio Fish Commission and century were the golden age of fish would soon become its president; culture, and Henshall was among the during this same time he was also earliest American experts. He was a an officer of the Cincinnati Society frequent contributor to both Forest of Natural History and edited this & Stream and The American Angler, association’s prestigious journal in

Todd E.A. Larson E.A. Todd the premier outdoor journals of their the 1890s. Dr. James Alexander Henshall day, contributing dozens of full-length articles and hundreds of letters to the Having been an active member of the editor—many of them on the subject American Fisheries Society since its of fish culture. founding in 1870, he read important papers at the national conference for His name will forever be connected to many years, and eventually served the bass, in large part because nearly as president (1891-92). He resigned a half million copies of his magnum this position to take charge of the opus — The Book of the Black Bass legendary fisheries exhibit at the (1881) —have been printed over the Columbian Exhibition in 1893. The years. Yet it was his experience at success of this World’s Fair exhibition an Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, brook further added to Henshall’s fame, trout hatchery post-Civil War that and perhaps it was because of this would make a most formative event. that he was nominated to fill the post Henshall served the Union troops of U.S. Fish Commissioner in 1896. as a doctor in Cynthiana, Kentucky, Backed by three cabinet members, for most of the war. He was “behind five governors, and dozens of other enemy lines” when Gen. John Hunt political luminaries, it was expected Morgan raided the area, and it is that his nomination would be rubber- likely he administered to soldiers on stamped by another angler of renown, both sides. After the war, he headed President Grover Cleveland. The job to Wisconsin. went instead to Captain John Brice, the cousin of the influential Senator “I was a frequent visitor at this Calvin Brice. Henshall never let on if

Laura Dobbins/USFWS Laura hatchery,” Henshall wrote in his he was embittered by this event, and This former home of James Henshall at Autobiography, “and became pretty recorded in his Autobiography that Private John Allen National Fish well versed in the method of trout he simply said “sic transit gloria, and Hatchery now houses the Tupelo Garden culture.” Beginning in 1868 he took wrote a letter of congratulations to my Club. The building is on the this knowledge and first applied it to friend Captain Brice.” National Register of Historic places. the breeding of bass.

8 Eddies Fall 2008 Dr. James Alexander Henshall

His disappointment may have complicated structure,” he been tempered when in late 1896, noted in an address to the Brice asked him to rejoin the Fish American Fisheries Society in Commission, now operating under 1901. “In fish culture, especially, civil service jurisdiction that required is this true, and the more we Henshall to take a series of exams. He endeavor to follow the methods was offered his choice of three new of nature, and rely on the National Fish Hatcheries in Texas, simplest means to that end, Iowa, or Montana, and perhaps to the greater will likely be our the surprise of some chose to become success.” He always sought the Superintendent of the Bozeman, simplest answer to even the Montana hatchery in January 1897. most complicated question, and perhaps this is his legacy in the It was during his twelve years in field of fish culture. Bozeman that Dr. Henshall did significant research on the grayling. Fittingly, there was one more With the grayling in Michigan on the tag Henshall was given that verge of extinction, many feared the is as descriptive as any, as it

Montana fish was similarly marked represents his tireless efforts in Larson E.A. Todd for oblivion. Henshall concentrated the field he loved. For the last Henshall unveiled this his considerable acumen on finding decade of his life, whenever his paddlewheel in the 1911 Bulletin a way to artificially propagate it. He name appeared in print it was of the University of Montana. He overcame many of the peculiarities of often followed by the words “the designed it to be used by ranchers grayling breeding, and when he finally Father of the Grayling.” For a at irrigation intakes to keep fish in discerned that the only food grayling man who spent so much time rivers and not entrained in ditches. fry eat are naturally occurring minute promoting fish culture, it must crustaceans, he successfully bred have been the most gratifying the fish. nickname of all. F

As gratifying as this was—and he Dr. Todd E. A. Larson, was lauded by contemporaries like is a history professor Theodore Gordon for his work—Dr. at Xavier University in Henshall was getting older and the Cincinnati, OH, and the bitterly cold winters took their toll. At owner of the Whitefish age 73, he transferred to the present- Press, publishing books day Private John Allen National Fish on the history of fishing. Hatchery in Tupelo, Mississippi in October 1909, and for the next seven years successfully raised largemouth bass that were shipped throughout the South and as far away as Cuba. Sadly, his eyesight began to fail, and in March 1917 he left the U.S. Fish Commission after nearly a quarter century of service.

Henshall’s theories on fish culture

were unpretentious. “The simplest Larson E.A. Todd devices give better practical results Dr. Henshall in triplicate: Hunter, Fish than those of more elaborate and Culturist, Angler.

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation American Fishes

By T. Edward Nickens American Shad

“Growing up, I didn’t know what an with fish bypass structures on operations sat astride many coastal American shad was,” Pappy Magaro Pennsylvania’s Lehigh, Delaware, rivers. On the North Branch of told me one brilliant June afternoon. and Susquehanna rivers; on North Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna, in At the time, this was hard to fathom. Carolina’s Little and Cape Fear; on 1881, some 40 seine fisheries each We were anchored at the confluence South Carolina’s Pee Dee; and on caught up to 10,000 shad per day. of the Lehigh and Delaware rivers, Virginia’s Rappahannock, among Shad bakes and planked shad are an at Easton, Pennsylvania, with others. On the Schuylkill River alone, ongoing tradition along rivers such downriggers bent. It’s the precise in Pennsylvania, seven dams are as Virginia’s Rappahannock. It’s a spot where Magaro, a longtime currently targeted for breaching, fish worth celebrating: salted shad president of the Delaware River Shad removal, or fish passage construction. kept George Washington’s Valley Fisherman’s Association, has fished Forge troops alive and kicking as they for more than 30 years. Native to rivers from Labrador to waited out the winter of 1776. Florida, a spawning American shad Once, he said, the river hosted a is 12 to 24 inches of silvery-slick But their reliance on open migratory huge shad migration, but commercial shimmer, its back draped with a corridors through the settled East fishing whittled stocks away, dams green and blue metallic luster that has hammered American shad checked upstream movements, and gives way to sides glimmering like populations. Since the dawn of the a massive “pollution plug” in the liquid opal. Industrial Revolution, when untold river between Philadelphia and thousands of small dams were built Wilmington, Delaware, would literally Along the West Coast, the fish aren’t across Eastern rivers and smaller force migrating shad to turn around native, but they’ve been there since streams to power mills and factories, and swim back to the sea. One day in 1871, when four milk cans of Hudson to the age of hydroelectric power, the mid-1970s, Magaro caught a large River juvenile shad were carted by when enormous dams corralled fish at the base of the Lehigh River railroad and stagecoach and poured major rivers from Maine to Florida, dam. “I called the kids over to look at into the headwaters of California’s populations of American shad and the size of this huge river chub,” he Sacramento River. In the Columbia many other anadromous fish have remembered. “I didn’t find out it was River states, American shad plummeted. a shad until two years later when a populations have quadrupled since friend asked me to go shad fishing. I 1970 and now support an enormous “Losing American shad from East said, ‘What’s a shad?’” recreational fishery. Coast rivers and the Atlantic Ocean would be an ecological, cultural, and Thankfully, anglers and Like all anadromous fish, American economic catastrophe of Biblical conservationists up and down the shad begin life in fresh waters. As proportions,” says R. Wilson Laney, East Coast are now much more larvae and juveniles, they move of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s familiar with this most American of downstream to estuaries and sounds, South Atlantic Fisheries Coordination fishes. In recent years, dam removals and then spend most of their lives Office. “This shouldn’t be allowed to in Eastern seaboard states and in the open ocean. Early each happen.” advances in techniques that pass spring, however, enormous numbers migratory fish around dams have ascend coastal rivers, unseen in the Biologists along the Atlantic opened up thousands of miles of turbid and tannin-stained flows, but seaboard are working hard to bring spawning habitat closed to shad for heralding the coming season as surely back the fish, from the Waldoboro decades. One of the first dams to as spring peepers. Streams void of Shad Hatchery in Maine, to the fall for shad was the 1998 removal the migrants in January swell with Watha State Fish Hatchery near of Quaker Neck Dam on the Neuse the arrival of hundreds of thousands Fayetteville, North Carolina. River in North Carolina, which of fish, seeking spawning grounds American shad have been raised opened more than 1,000 miles of that lie in upstream shoals and rapids. at North Carolina’s Edenton migratory fish habitat and attracted National Fish Hatchery since the national attention. Such seasonal abundance made facility opened in 1898, although American shad one of the most techniques have changed a bit over Since then, shad river dams have important fisheries resources of the last century. Last year, biologists fallen or have been outfitted the young nation. Huge commercial experimented with an inline heating

10 Eddies Fall 2008 Joe Hightower/USGS Joe A Roanoke River American shad caught by Mike Waine, a graduate research assistant at North Carolina State Univeristy. system to heat water in spawning figure ever recorded for the hatchery. the briefest moment. They gather tanks to the required 70-71 “And this year, as we were stocking their wits, sunlight glinting on their degrees F. Previously, each brood the Roanoke River, fishermen would pearl-like flanks. Then they orient to fish was individually injected with come up to us and say—‘Whatever the downstream current and are gone hormones to initiate spawning, an you’re doing, keep doing it!’ They love in a flash, headed upstream, upriver, increasingly expensive option. Fry to see those American shad coming heeding the ancient instincts to find are immersed in an oxy-tetracycline back.” swift current over clean rock, where dip to stain ear bones called otoliths; the next generation of American shad when biologists recapture marked This is easy to understand. Once will begin life. F individuals, microscopic analysis hooked, the fish puts up a memorable of the otolith stains enable them to fight, giving them the nickname “poor determine when and where the fish man’s tarpon.” Yet few anglers keep was stocked, and which hatchery it them, despite the nation’s unmatched T. Edward Nickens is an editor-at-large for Field & Stream. He lives in Raleigh, NC. came from. heritage of savoring American shad. Instead, they slip the hooks from In 2008, 3.1 million American shad the shad’s thin, papery mouths, and were stocked from the Edenton release the fish into the river’s flow. hatchery, says hatchery manager Once free, American shad tend to Stephen Jackson. It was the highest hang suspended in the current for

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation By Irene James Cryogenics for Conservation The in-vitro fertilization business projects that altered the specific technology had been around for about involves waiting – for the right donor, environment necessary to survive and 40 years, but this marked the first the right moment, and if all goes reproduce. Pallid sturgeon joined attempt by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife according to plan – a baby. Or in this the endangered species list in 1990; Service to use it for fish conservation. case, lots of babies. The parents- the population in its northern range to-be, a handful of mature pallid now stands starkly at only a couple Louisiana State University professor sturgeon, are gathered in a large hundred, most of them on a stretch of aquaculture, Dr. Terry Tiersch, fiberglass tank at the Garrison Dam of the Missouri River between Fort was in the kitchen. He recalled National Fish Hatchery in Riverdale, Peck Reservoir and Lake Sakakawea, the austere beginnings: “We made ND. It’s easy to like these friendly including the lower Yellowstone it up as we went; we didn’t have a fish that crowd like puppies around River. Their recovery plan calls for laboratory, and started working the wading biologist Bill Bouthillier, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with Ziploc bags.” Their model, the who held up a six-foot-long fish for to help nature along – and that dairy industry, didn’t quite fit the a closer look. The sturgeons didn’t includes freezing fish sperm, or milt. fish work at hand. “Cattle breeders arrive at this clinic willingly; they Scientists call it “cryogenics.” try to minimize genetic variation and were caught in the wilds of the diversity. It’s very different from Missouri River. In the tank, they just The process begins anew each spring conservation,” noted Tiersch. keep circling, enjoying regular meals, when fish biologists collect both males and waiting for their moment. and females, unite the eggs and milt “The razorback faced looming to produce fry, and later release them extinction,” said Dr. Stuart Leon, This unusual fish, ghostly white, throughout the year. The donors Chief of the National Fish Hatchery dressed up in bony armor and are cooperating: one female yielded System, who was there, too, those Fu Manchu whiskers that help it 243,800 eggs and another some many years ago. “They had declined sense food in the muddy Missouri, 95,600. But eggs are just one half of from 80,000 fish in the 1980s, to an has been around for 200 million the equation. The pallid sturgeon estimated 20,000 fish, and they were years. Its lifespan rivals ours and population is so low in the wild, old and blind. The youngest we were its size gives predators second and river conditions so challenging catching were probably more than 25 thoughts. But why would these that the hatchery needs to produce years old – they weren’t recruiting.” proven fossil-age survivors need our not only a lot of fish, but the most help doing what comes naturally? adaptable and diverse fish to ensure Tiersch and Leon had good help on Quite simply, they are no match survival. Consider that it is possible hand. It was Dr. Owen Gorman who for dams and re-channelization males could go uncaptured in a given first thought that cryogenics might year. work for the razorback. Gorman had recently worked on the evolution A solution began of the influenza virus at St. Jude unfolding in 1993, Children’s Research Hospital in when biologists Memphis, discovering an avian link borrowed a to the 1918 epidemic, before joining kitchen in an the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. unused home Dr. Gary Carmichael, a physiologist, at the Willow had revolutionized how we haul fish, Beach National having researched stress in captive Fish Hatchery fishes. This “brain trust” saw the in Arizona. In incredible and urgent need and took this unlikeliest it upon themselves to do the science. of spaces, they “It’s rewarding to see how far we’ve experimented come since then,” notes Leon.

Jim Foster Jim with freezing Dr. Bill Wayman discusses the details of freezing and razorback Dr. Bill Wayman, a cryogenics thawing fish sperm. A video on the monitor behind him sucker milt. The specialist visiting North Dakota from shows live sperm cells from a pallid sturgeon.

12 Eddies Fall 2008 the Warm Springs Fish Technology move. It’s amazing at how much the Cryopreservation isn’t the whole Center in Georgia, described early specimens look like, well, our own. answer – we need to restore habitat, fish cryogenics work as “kind of a Wayman paused at a particular pallid which could take 60 to 70 years. But test, an adapt-as-you-go philosophy.” sturgeon sample on the screen. It we need to keep the species alive until The test worked and Wayman is was no gold-medal contender; only then." one of many scientists advancing about 20 percent of pallid sturgeon cryogenics in fisheries conservation. sperm cells have what it takes after The Fisheries Program stores milt thawing, not great odds – but enough of endangered fish at the USDA Today, biologists use cryogenics to get the job done. Agriculture Research Service’s procedures on about 20 fish species, National Germplasm Repository in including the pallid sturgeon. Milt is Cryopreservation has evolved Ft. Collins, CO. It’s a catalog that frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen. from humble beginnings into a scientists can draw from to maximize Its genetic worthiness is tested reliable tool, a savings account for genetic diversity where it is most before it ever meets an egg. At the conservation. But freezing milt is no needed -- in fish populations that are Garrison Dam hatchery, Wayman substitute for habitat conservation. severely depleted. F scrolled through computer screens Garrison Dam National Fish of live images of cells, pointing out Hatchery manager, Rob Holm, what they look for, like membrane said it best: "Our mandate is to integrity and how vigorously the cells prevent species from going extinct. Irene James is a freelance writer in Littleton, CO. Jim Foster Jim Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery manager, Rob Holm (l), and visiting fish biologist Bill Bouthillier from Warm Springs Fish Technology Center, show off a female pallid sturgeon.

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation By John Tertuliani Bob Hines – Bob Hines Bob Bonefish on Florida flats – any fish is a good catch. 14 Eddies Fall 2008 a Man of Art Bob Hines Bob Brook trout – aim for quality.

The life of an artist can be a tough a staff artist for the U.S. Fish and one. You follow what you love with Wildlife Service. passion; money plays no role. The hardest part is sticking with it long Born in 1912, Robert “Bob” Warren enough. Common sense pushes you Hines enjoyed a typical Midwest toward a higher paying job – and childhood in Fremont, Ohio. His they all pay more. But art is not a family lived near the banks of the job. An insatiable desire moves you. Sandusky River, close to where Heart and soul express how you feel, it poured into Lake Erie. From and you enjoy nothing more than his early years grew a love for the to share your love with anyone who outdoors, hunting, and fishing. appreciates the same. Bob Hines He became an Eagle Scout, and a

shared his love of fish and wildlife naturalist for several scout camps. USFWS through an incomparable talent as The sharp focus with which Hines Bob Hines paints a drake wood duck.

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation draw a life-like pose on paper. Hines felt the eye was the embodiment of the animal, along with the backbone, the physical support affecting the pose and appearance. These two physical traits were the initial focus of his drawings.

Hines mailed a few of his drawings to the Ohio Department of Conservation; the work so impressed an agency official, that he offered Hines a job as an artist. Hines accepted, but lacking any formal training in art, he crammed four days with his high school art teacher to prepare for using oils.

Hines illustrated the agency periodical, Ohio Conservation Bulletin. He also did a weekly feature, “Under Ohio Skies,” carried by hundreds of Ohio newspapers. In 1944, Hines entered two drawings in the federal Duck Stamp annual design competition. Both were rejected, but Hines resubmitted his redhead design and it was selected for the 1946-47 Duck Stamp.

Frank Dufresne, then Director of the Alaska Game Commission, asked Hines to illustrate his 1946 book, Alaska’s Animals and Fishes. Hines fashioned grayling, salmon, Dolly Varden and many others in drawings and watercolors. Dufresne left Alaska to become the Chief of Information of the U.S. Fish Bob Hines Bob and Wildlife Service. Hines came Net return – Golden trout of California. with him to become a staff artist in Washington, DC in 1948. viewed nature is patent in what is about a man who shot a black He accepted the position, but not with believed to be his first published pheasant, the dark-phase rarely seen. great pleasure after learning that his illustration, a hunting scene in his The man left the pheasant where it supervisor would be a woman. His 1928 high school yearbook. fell, not knowing what it was. Hines apprehension disappeared in time; he decided to draw wildlife as a way to and his new supervisor would become Hines’ smoldering interest in teach people about wildlife. He would life-long friends. illustration ignited after learning use his experience in taxidermy to

16 Eddies Fall 2008 In his new job, Hines found a wide assortment of opportunities, everything from illustrating common publications to conducting wildlife surveys and scuba diving. His supervisor, a biologist-turned-editor named Rachael Carson, was writing a book on oceans. The Sea Around Us was a commercial success to the extent she resigned her position. Carson asked Hines to illustrate her next book on aquatic life living along the Atlantic coast. This proved a challenge for Hines; he was not as familiar with invertebrates. The Edge of the Sea, published in 1955, contained Hines’ pencil sketches. The book made it to #3 on The New York Times bestseller list.

In an effort to raise awareness for wildlife through postage stamps, a Washington attorney and sportsman proposed that Hines paint four images of trout for President Eisenhower. The idea worked, two of the four paintings were presented to Eisenhower in 1955 while he was on a Colorado fishing trip. Eisenhower sent a memo to the Postmaster General with his support for wildlife presented on postage stamps. Hines designed the initial series of four wildlife stamps. In 1956, three-cent stamps were adorned with Hines’ king salmon, wild turkey, pronghorn, and a whooping crane.

The late 1960s and early 70s were filled with big events for Hines. Hines Bob The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Striped marlin – a memorable day in the Pacific. published his monumental, Ducks at a Distance. Five private publishers rejected the work before he decided of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on all aspects of fish and fisheries to release the material as public and the Fisheries Program, created conservation. domain. It sold more than two million as the U.S. Fish Commission, by copies in multiple languages. publishing the book Sport Fishing Hines retired a decade later with 32 U.S.A. It seems only natural that years of service. His work for the On July 4, 1971, the Department of 21 of Hines’ paintings would grace U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ran the Interior marked the centennial the pages of this authoritarian text the gamut from line art on paper to

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation Ohio Department of Natural Resources Natural of Department Ohio

Top: Bob Hines painted fish and wildlife images for the Ohio Department of Conservation and its magazine until 1948. Below: “Under Ohio Skies” appeared weekly in over 200 Ohio newspapers, illustrating the how’s, why’s and what-for’s of conservation, such as in these two 1946 examples. Bob Hines Bob Arctic grayling – natural lakes.

murals on walls. During his lifetime his time on November 7, 1994. There

Ohio Department of Natural Resources Natural of Department Ohio Hines illustrated more than 50 books. was no public service. He left as he His work appeared in Readers Digest, arrived, without fanfare, but what he The New Yorker, Sports Afield, and left behind is a canon that will enrich Natural History. His last work of us all for generations to come. F note was 1991, the 50th anniversary edition of, Under the Sea Wind, by Like Bob Hines, John Tertuliani started his Rachael Carson. career with the Ohio Division of Wildlife. He’s now a biologist with the U.S. Geological The family of Rachael Carson asked Survey in Columbus, and is the author of two Hines to be an honorary pallbearer books, Catching Bluegill, and Smallmouth at her funeral in 1964. Now it was Bass and Streams: Thoughts on Fly Fishing. Ohio Department of Natural Resources Natural of Department Ohio

18 Eddies Fall 2008 Bob Hines Bob Bob Hines Bob Smallmouth bass and rock bass – under the cover of a log.

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation By Dr. Robert Bakal Fighting the Amphibian Fungus Amphibians, they are part of our lexicon and our lore. You’ll see them in caricature and cartoons and children’s books. Frog and Toad books in the 1970’s were great elemental reads, telling stories about bravery and friendship and growing. But there’s another elemental story to tell about frogs and toads, salamanders and newts, and this one has to do with loss.

If you don’t recall your textbook definitions, most amphibians spend their early life stages in water as gilled, larval forms know as tadpoles. Later, many change into lung breathing terrestrial adults.

Worldwide, amphibian declines may be the greatest conservation issue the world faces. Since Frog and Toad hit the kids’ bookshelves in the early 1970’s, scientists have witnessed tremendous population declines and outright extinctions of amphibian species. Consider these numbers: nearly 32 percent of amphibian species are threatened with extinction; at least 122 amphibian species have gone extinct since 1980; and, at least 43 percent of all amphibian species are declining in number.

The causes of the declines are many, but habitat destruction and pollution have undoubtedly reduced or eliminated many populations. Other reasons linked with declines include global climate change, invasive species, and one disease in particular – chytridiomycosis. It’s a newly recognized disease of Dr. Vance Vredenburg/San Francisco State University State Francisco Vredenburg/San Vance Dr. amphibians caused by a fungus, The results of a chytridiomycosis epidemic in southern mountain yellow-legged frogs in Sixty Lake Basin, Kings Canyon National Park, California. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or “B.d.” for short.

Although the origin of B.d. is not definitively known, the fungus has

20 Eddies Fall 2008 “B.d. is now recognized as the worst infectious disease ever recorded among vertebrates...”

been identified in museum amphibian and other causes. Scientists at the amphibians for disease-causing specimens from Africa collected in Warm Springs Regional Fisheries pathogens in conjunction with routine the 1930’s. It now appears to have Center in Georgia are studying the population surveys at the Delaware spread to many parts of the world, distribution and seasonality of B.d. Water Gap Natural Area. Their and is now recognized as the worst at the Center and surrounding area. scientists look for viruses, B.d., and infectious disease ever recorded They collect amphibians and other parasites in newts and frogs. among vertebrates because of its aquatic organisms to determine if impacts to so many species – and its they carry B.d. as well. The Center Like canaries in the coal mine, tendency to drive them to extinction. will examine the effects of B.d. on amphibians are showing us that predator-prey interactions, and are something in our wild places is going In September 2005, the nation’s developing a procedure for freezing terribly wrong. Working together, capital hosted an Amphibian salamander sperm for conservation. we can ensure that frogs, toads, and Conservation Summit, the purposes salamanders remain not only vibrant of which were to design and promote The Dexter National Fish Hatchery parts of our lexicon and lore, but a response to global amphibian and Technology Center in New continue their essential roles in the declines. This Summit developed Mexico held their first workshop on ecosystems of the world. For more an action plan to expand our captive amphibian and reptile health information visit www.parcplace.org.F understanding of B.d. and create issues last year. From “Herpshop strategies to deal with the disease in 2007,” scientists at Dexter developed the field. an in-house capability to diagnose A doctor of veterinary medicine, Robert disease related to B.d. at the Bakal is the National Aquatic Animal Health To this end, in November 2007, molecular level in collaboration with Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He lives in Raleigh, NC. Partners in Amphibian and Reptile the Zoological Society of San Diego Conservation, the U.S. Fish and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory. Wildlife Service, and a host of other federal, state, and non-governmental Saratoga National Fish Hatchery organizations co-sponsored an in Wyoming was first among the international conference on B.d. 70 National Fish Hatcheries to called “Amphibian Declines and rear an endangered amphibian, Chytridiomycosis: Translating starting in 1997. The Wyoming toad, Science into Urgent Action.” Over found only in the Laramie basin of 200 amphibian authorities from southeast Wyoming, is considered government agencies, universities, the most endangered amphibian zoos and aquaria, and the private in North America. Although major Ulibarri/USFWSManuel sectors from Canada, the U.S., factors behind the toad’s decline Mexico, the United Kingdom, include habitat loss and sensitivity Denmark, South Africa, Australia, to herbicides, chytrid infections have and New Zealand convened in Tempe, played a large role in suppressing Arizona. Participants communicated the animal. The hatchery maintains the scientific information available a captive population for breeding, that in the end enables scientists, rearing, and refugia. Since 1999, educators, policy makers, and hatchery biologists have released concerned citizens to take the 38,792 toads into the wild. Biologists urgent actions necessary to protect perform applied research on breeding amphibians from B.d. methods and are undertaking a study Manuel Ulibarri/USFWSManuel of the genetics of the toads to help The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Renee Martin swabs a Woodhouse determine optimal breeding pairs. toad at Dexter National Fish Fisheries Program is responding Hatchery and Technology Center in to the critical need to address The Lamar Fish Health Center New Mexico, to test for the presence amphibian declines as a result of B.d. in Pennsylvania surveys wild of B.d.

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation By Dr. Ann Gannam From Horse Heads to Pellets Fish nutrition has come a long way

We’ve all done it, sometimes out of items to determine the appropriate boredom at the table, or walking the composition – the protein, fats, isle at the market with real concern. moisture, and ash of the artificial We pause, turn the box sideways, feed given to fish in the hatcheries. and read that little white box with At this time – the early 1900’s – the black letters and numbers and learn basic nutrient requirements of the about what we are eating: calories - fish were not well-considered. Since 250; total fat - 12 g; sodium - 470 mg; you are what you eat, these poorly vitamin A - 4 percent. Okay, maybe formulated feeds resulted in poor you shouldn’t eat so much mac-and- health and poor growth in the fish. cheese. In the 1920’s and 1930’s wet feeds for Nutrition is serious business if you use in hatcheries were made based on care about your health. Nutrition what was available in close proximity is also serious business in fisheries to the hatcheries – that is salmon conservation, and the science of fish eggs, fish, oilseed meals, beef and hog nutrition is steeped in a history of liver, spleen, chicken eggs, and horse experience. The science has evolved meat. A feed mixture back then might from the crude to the sophisticated in be comprised of thirds of beef liver, the span of a century. hog liver and salmon guts, chopped and mixed at the hatchery with salt NCTC Archives/Museum NCTC Culturing fish for food started added to thicken the mixture. Smoke plumes from this historic about 4,000 years ago. Little feed building, a “fly house” or “maggot was needed because the culture The 1940’s brought a change to the house” at Craig Brook National Fish was extensive and well-fertilized feed formulations because of the Hatchery, Maine. Rotting flesh kept ponds were adequate to support competition for the meat ingredients warm by wood stove produced fly and grow the fish. By the 1870’s and by-products used in the wet larvae through the winter. the U.S. government was setting up feeds. More meals were used such as fish culture stations to spawn and wheat middlings, cottonseed meal and raise fish to supplement fish stocks soybean meal. However, in the Rocky in the wild. These culture stations Mountain states they must have felt evolved into today’s 70 National Fish pretty confident their meat supply Hatcheries. would be adequate. A Bozeman National Fish Hatchery report from With fish being raised more the 1940’s stated “There are enough intensively, supplemental feeding old and worthless horses in Gallatin was needed. It was crudely achieved County to provide fish food for years in its earliest form. In some cases, to come.” rotting horse flesh was hung over the water to allow fly larvae to drip to fish Great progress has been made in waiting below. Fly larvae were also the development of fish food with cultured in “maggot houses” where landmark feeds coming out in the fires burned to keep larvae coming 1950’s, like the Oregon Moist Pellet in the winter. Horse meat itself was made at low temperature with a directly rendered into fish feed. pasta maker. In the 1960s, the Abernathy Dry Diet, a compressed NCTC Archives/Museum NCTC Complete diets that met the fishes’ pellet came out, and then the present- H. B. Mailman cuts horse meat to nutritional requirements became day, extruded-feed pellet, one highly feed fish at a former National Fish necessary. Scientists that did the efficient for fish. Hatchery in Springville, UT. early work in diet development looked at composition of natural prey

22 Eddies Fall 2008 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s June sucker and bonytail – all of them Fisheries Program has long been endangered species. in the diet development business. Its seven Fish Technology Centers The Applied Research Program in around the country today grew Fish Nutrition at Abernathy Fish from the National Fish Hatcheries Technology Center, where I work, where scientists experimented in provides quality control of fish feed fish rearing to improve fish culture and diet development, primarily for techniques. At all of these Fish salmon and steelhead. Our scientists Technology Centers some diet tests evaluate the quality of commercial have been done now and again, fish feeds used at National Fish whether to develop new diets or Hatcheries. We study how nutrition compare commercial diets to find the affects young salmon and steelhead ones best suited for the fish being through the smolt stage, the point reared. National Fish Hatchery where the young head to sea, and we employees have contributed greatly study the survival and maturation to the knowledge of fish nutrition. of captive brood stock – something Dr. John Halver, “The Father of critical for successful captive rearing USFWS Twibell/ Ron Fish Nutrition,” led the Western of fish. Modern pelletized fish food produced Fish Nutrition Laboratory, and was at Abernathy Fish Technology Center, the first to make fish nutrition a Not only do we want the good stuff WA. science. Roger Burrows and Laurie on the figurative nutrition label, but Fowler, created the Abernathy Dry we want to keep the bad stuff out. Diet, named for the Fish Technology Our scientists seek ways of reducing Nutrition Facts Center in Washington state where contaminants in feeds by developing they worked. It was the forerunner and testing vegetable protein and oils of dry diet formulations used the in fish diets. world over today. Future challenges for fish Not all fish species eat the same nutritionists will mean dealing with Crude Protein 52% things. Different fishes need different the manufacture of biofuel to feed Crude Fat 20% foods. That creates the need to transportation, which will reduce the Crude Fiber 1.0% develop new feeds or test existing availability of plant-based feedstuffs, Ash 10.0% feeds. With the volatile commodities as well as the increasing cost and Sodium 0.7% market and the real scarcity of some decreasing availability of fish meal Calcium 2.2% ingredients, such as fish meal and oil, and fish oil. The need for new diets Selenium 0.1 mg/kg feeds using alternative proteins and for new species may not wane. But Phosphorus 1.6% oils are coming on the market and in the end, regardless of the reason, Vitamin A 10000 IU/kg need to be tested on the captively capable and discerning nutritionists Vitamin D3 4000 IU/kg raised fish stocks in the National Fish will strive to get all that fishes need Vitamin E 350 IU/kg Hatchery System. on the nutrition label. Vitamin B12 Trace Necessity is the mother of invention; Folic Acid Trace imperiled fishes have created another Vitamin K Trace need to apply the science of nutrition. Ann Gannam, Ph.D. is a Fish Nutritionist Riboflavin Trace at Abernathy Fish Technology Center in The Bozeman Fish Technology Abernathy, WA. Center has extensively researched fish nutrition, most recently testing diets for pallid sturgeon, Rio Grande Nutritional facts for salmonid feed. silvery minnow, razorback sucker,

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation By Craig Springer Fishingenuity Science of genetics steers fisheries conservation practices University of Georgia Georgia of University Dams keep sturgeon from reaching spawning habitats. Conservation genetics help biologists find brood stock populations.

Science is good for you. Imagine The science of genetics concerns life. And that’s the stuff that fish life without a microprocessor, polio itself with the traits of inheritance, conservation geneticists, like Greg vaccine, Velcro, cell phone, a graphite the features that plants and animals Moyer at the Warm Springs Fish fly rod, or a depth finder and no and all living things possess that Technology Center in Georgia, down-riggers. Science enlightens and are passed down to them from their concern themselves with in answering informs and its offspring – technology ancestors. That genetic information questions in fisheries management. – has made the world a much rides in a molecule called DNA, that different place. familiar twirling double-helix form Moyer holds a Ph.D. in zoology from that looks like a spiraling ladder. Southern Illinois University but first The realm of fisheries conservation Inside that DNA are segments called earned an undergraduate degree is no different. Technology, and genes and that’s what is transmitted in fisheries biology at Mansfield the science of genetics, have to future generations by each parent. University in Pennsylvania. The equipped fishery managers to meet Genes are the coded instructions Pennsylvania native melds his conservation challenges in the wild to the fish that tell it how to live its academic training in chemistry, and in the hatchery.

24 Eddies Fall 2008 statistics, genetics, evolution, and population ecology in applying high technology to important questions in fisheries conservation. He works in one of five conservation genetics labs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The genetic makeup of an individual fish, or any organism, is like a fingerprint. Everyone’s fingerprints are unique, but sharing some commonality in shape and design. In the fine details, that is where the differences lie. And so it is with genetics: Moyer looks at the fine genetic details of fishes at the molecular level. Scientists use sophisticated technology to examine the DNA molecule of fish – the fine details of the finger print. By examining the genetic makeup of fish, scientists can answer an array of questions related to conservation. USFWS Dr. Greg Moyer loads Atlantic sturgeon DNA samples on an Applied Biosystem The Atlantic sturgeon population in 3130 genotype analyzer. the St. Marys River on the Georgia – Florida state line is seriously depleted, if not completely gone. Over-fishing, waters segmented by were a way there. Moyer’s job was dams, and loss of habitat affect fish to determine if the population in the most anywhere. With sturgeon, these Altamaha River was large enough problems in managing populations to warrant taking breeding fish are confounded by the fact that they out of the wild population to use are very long-lived and are slow to as a captive brood stock. For over mature to a breeding age. Atlantic four years, Moyer examined the sturgeon won’t breed until they are genetic makeup of young Atlantic about 12 years of age, and then they sturgeon caught by scientists from won’t breed every year. the University of Georgia. He was able to track their parentage, and State and federal fishery managers from the information he learned that wanted to reintroduce Atlantic there are about 50 breeding Atlantic sturgeon to the St. Marys River, and sturgeon contributing offspring to they wanted to use the most suitable the Altamaha River every year – a

source of fish. The Altamaha River, number sufficient enough to allow USFWS the next large river to the north a small portion to be taken for a Paul Christman (l) Maine Department seemed to be a likely source. brood stock without damaging the of Marine Resources and Dr. John population. That brood stock hasn’t Sweka from the USFWS Northeast But a question needed to be been established yet. Fishery Fishery Center, collect Atlantic salmon answered, and the tools of genetics managers next need to reaffirm that parr in the Sheepscot River, Maine.

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation Creek and Spring Creek, course nearby her lab. Her occupation and avocation mix beautifully when it comes to conserving the only trout native to New England: the brook trout.

Bartron is engaged in a project in northern New Hampshire’s Nash Stream. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department is interested to know more about the populations of brook trout inhabiting the Nash- proper and the tributaries that feed it. Brook trout in these streams are separated from one another by distance, by log jams, and by road culverts that may block their movements.

Examining the genetic character of these populations in Bartron’s lab should reveal their genetic structure, and complement a concurrent tagging study on the colorful trout. The data should show if these tributary populations are artificially dissimilar, caused by the culverts and log jams. The genetic data and movement data from tagged fish will help fishery managers to decide where best to spend time and money in removing

Shannon Julian/USFWS Shannon barriers to fish passage. Brook trout Dr. Meredith Bartron sorts Atlantic salmon adults collected from the Penobscot populations that are connected to one River for spawning at Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery, Maine. another should be most robust and best suited to sustain themselves. Atlantic sturgeon no longer exist in The USGS Conte Lab and the the St. Marys. Connecticut River Coordinator’s Office are partners on this project. Back in Moyer’s home state, Meredith Bartron works in genetics When not working on brook trout, at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Bartron helps manage the brood conservation genetics lab inside the stocks of Atlantic salmon at eight Northeast Fishery Center in the town National Fish Hatcheries in New of Lamar. Bartron is a Seattle native. England. Six brood stocks are She earned a Ph.D. at Michigan State considered endangered. Because in fisheries biology before landing in their numbers are so few, it is the Keystone State. She’s an avid paramount that the hatcheries angler and two trout streams, Fishing maintain the genetic diversity of the

26 Eddies Fall 2008 salmon over time, and ensure that hatchery management practices help achieve that diversity.

The main thing is to maintain genetic diversity in fishes, that’s the principal purpose in using the tool of genetics in conservation. Moyer points out that it is a good thing to have that diversity in the wild – the more diverse that a population is, the better equipped it will be to sustain itself in the face of changes in its environment, and that becomes profoundly important when fish populations are precariously small.

Science is good for you and it’s good for fishes. Technology has opened the field of conservation genetics. Aside from where Moyer and Bartron ply the science, three other genetics labs in Alaska, New Mexico, and Washington also use sophisticated technology working on everything from salmon and steelhead to rare desert fishes. All five labs employ 25 people nationwide, and you can learn more by visiting www.fws.gov/ ConservationGeneticsCOP. F Meredith Bartron/USFWS Meredith University of Georgia of University Brook trout ready for fin clipping. University of Georgia researchers take great care of this giant Atlantic sturgeon while placing a radio transmitter about its dorsal fin.

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation By Ken Phillips Diagnosing Diseases The National Wild Fish Health Survey plots the occurrence of disease Set in Missoula, Montana during the 1920’s and 30’s the film “A River Runs Through It” brought the grace and art of fly fishing to the forefront. Well before the 1992 movie, western states like Colorado and Montana were considered the fly-fishing Mecca. Many of their streams were known to have rainbow and cutthroat trout populations that numbered in the thousands of fish per mile of stream.

By the mid-1990’s, things took a downward turn. Trout populations in Montana’s Madison River plummeted. In other streams, young trout were virtually absent. Biologists traced the losses to whirling disease, a deadly fish disease caused by a microscopic parasite called USFWS only by its scientific name, Ken Phillips of the La Crosse Fish Health Center samples Lake Erie walleye with Ohio Myxobolus cerebralis. Spores Division of Wildlife personnel. of the parasite target cartilage in the head, resulting in bone and nerve damage that cause infected To address the need to gather this salmonid ceratmyxosis in the Pacific fish to swim in a spiral, or “whirling” information, the U.S. Fish and Northwest. pattern that greatly reduces their Wildlife Service developed the The Fish Health Centers partner ability to swim away from predators, National Wild Fish Health Survey with other federal, state, tribal and or to capture prey of their own. (NWFHS), and naturally nested it in non-governmental organization Eventually, severely infected fish die. our nine Fish Health Centers across the nation. The Centers already biologists to determine areas to be Prior to the outbreak of whirling performed fish health inspections at sampled. Often the Fish Health disease, little was known about the National Fish Hatcheries, giving it Centers “piggy-back” sampling distribution of agents or pathogens a national scope with internationally efforts with partners to make efficient of fish disease in the wild. While it is recognized expertise. The NWFHS use of time and money. Results not possible to eliminate pathogens launched in 1997. from NWFHS have been used by such as Myxobolus cerebralis from biologists at all levels to make fishery the wild, knowing where they exist is The Fish Health Centers use management decisions. a valuable tool to limit the spread of standardized protocols to determine What Robert Redford’s movie did deadly disease pathogens. Fishery the distribution of 11 different for fly fishing, Steve McQueen’s biologists could use the information viral, bacteriological, and parasitic B-movie “The Blob” might come close when making decisions on moving pathogens on a national scale. They to portraying Viral Hemorrhagic wild fish stocks, collection of fish also look for additional pathogens Septicemia (VHS) in the Great Lakes. tissues from wild fish, or stocking fish. of local importance, like infectious salmon anemia in the Northeast, or VHS does to fish flesh what Ebola

28 Eddies Fall 2008 viruses do to the human body. VHS with state and tribal partners looking causes internal hemorrhaging and for agents of disease in the Ohio and fish bleed to death. Mississippi rivers, lakes Michigan and Superior, and numerous smaller In the spring of 2005, a significant kill inland lakes. Typically, partner of freshwater drum occurred in Lake agencies would collect and ship fish Ontario’s Bay of Quinte in Ontario, on ice to the La Crosse Fish Health Canada. The Ontario Ministry of Center, where we screened them for Natural Resources identified the VHS and other pathogens. cause as VHS, considered by many disease pathologists as the most The Ohio Division of Wildlife and La feared fish pathogen in the world. Crosse Fish Health Center isolated This was the first report of VHS in VHS as part of routine spawning of the Great Lakes region. Later in muskellunge from eastern Ohio’s 2005, VHS was found in muskellunge Clear Fork Reservoir in April, the in Lake St. Clair, Michigan. First first detection of VHS outside of reported as a disease of European the Great Lakes basin. We assisted rainbow trout in 1938, it was not until the Ohio Division of Wildlife with “VHS does to fish 1963 that VHS was determined as the follow-up work in the Mohican responsible pathogen. and Muskingum Rivers and found flesh what Ebola no VHS, but we did detect spring viruses do to the The NWFHS has been an important viremia of carp virus from bluegill tool in responding to emerging and largemouth bass, the first human body. VHS aquatic conservation issues such as detection in a non-minnow species in the outbreak of VHS in the Great the U.S. causes internal Lakes. In spring 2006 fish kills hemorrhaging and occurred throughout the lower Great All living things can suffer from Lakes, including Lake St.Clair, disease and fish are no exception. fish bleed to death.” Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and the St. Diseases kill fish in hatcheries, and Lawrence River. Freshwater drum in the wild. With the nasty nature and yellow perch died in Lake Erie. of VHS and debilitating whirling The La Crosse Fish Health Center disease, knowing the location of in Wisconsin, where I work, teamed your enemy is extremely valuable, with the Ohio Division of Wildlife and so is the NWFHS. For more and sampled numerous fish species information visit www.fws.gov/ from Lake Erie to determine the wildfishsurvey.F distribution of VHS.

In 2007, we expanded NWFHS Ken Phillips is a microbiologist at the LaCrosse efforts in the Midwest, and worked Fish Health Center in LaCrosse, WI. CornellUniversity Dr. Paul Bowser, professor of aquatic animal medicine at Cornell University, holds a trophy muskellunge killed by VHS.

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation Meanders

A Measure of Experience By H. Dale Hall Kentucky Department of Tourism of Department Kentucky An autumn morning mist shrouds the Cumberland River in southeast Kentucky.

Thirty years as a fish biologist gives and turned over rocks I became more cut off as the Corps of Engineers had me a reason to think about the past. adept at backing a crayfish into my re-routed the river to control flash I often drift back to the days when I hand, or finding a juicy “grampus.” flooding in the bottoms so prevalent was young and free to regularly get That was our name for hellgrammite, in the hills of home. A couple of years wet in the Cumberland River. I was the pincer-headed Dobson fly larva I ago as I visited my old home place, fortunate to be born in the bosom used for bait. On occasion I secured I was struck by the smell of rotten of the Cumberland Plateau of the the services of an abandoned car top eggs and dead blooms of algae that Appalachian Mountains, deep in that worked perfectly as a boat with a had replaced the smell of a clean southeastern Kentucky. My summers one-by-six board as the oar. I realized mountain river. That experience were filled with hours upon hours on that I was connected with the water made me feel all the more committed the river and walking through the as surely as I was Herb and Frances to rectifying the harm that has been woods that are right now colored in Hall’s son. I was as much a part of done as my generation pursued autumn foliage. Naturally, the past the river’s family as I was theirs. security from all of nature’s wrath – makes me think about the challenges When I reached adulthood and had seldom thinking of the cost. that lay ahead of us in the field of to choose a profession, Fisheries fisheries management. Management seemed as natural as I believe it is our responsibility going home. to do whatever we can in the U.S. I didn’t go fishing and hunting Fish and Wildlife Service to instill because it was a means of recreation, Over the years, I witnessed the the understanding that all natural unless one interprets recreation in its deterioration of that stretch of river resources belong to the people, and truest form: to re-create one’s self. and, when I returned many years we in government have the privilege Each time I waded into the riffles, later, found it to be a stagnant oxbow of holding those resources in “trust”

30 Eddies Fall 2008 for everyone. To accomplish this, must always accept that in the quest we’re going to have to engage for knowledge we are continually every tool in our toolbox, take risks learning which issues truly need our calculated by science and be honest attention and what vacuums of data about what we’re doing. All the need filled. The greatest mistake a while we must educate the public scientist can make is to lead others about their responsibilities to be to believe he or she has the data meaningfully involved in the efforts. to support a position when, in fact, These precious jewels belong to the position is based on emotion all of us. or speculation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service owns a 137-year-old Science is the cornerstone of any reputation of being honest scientists plan we may choose. Reality in our various pursuits. We must dictates that we will almost never never do anything to tarnish that have “enough” science to be reputation. confident that the actions we take will lead to certainty. After all, the I believe there is a bright future only thing that is certain in nature awaiting the aquatic resources of is that nothing is certain in nature. this country because of the dedicated However, we hold these resources in employees of the U.S. Fish and trust for the American people, and Wildlife Service, as well as those we will not fail. professionals in the States, Tribes

and non-governmental organizations. Walton/USFWS LaVanda We need to actively pursue Somewhere today there is a child H. Dale Hall, Director of the U.S. Fish cryogenics to ensure we have walking along a stagnant reach of and Wildlife Service, beams over a adequate populations of fishes into water, but one day that child will largemouth bass. the future. Preserved fish milt re-visit home to find the sweet smell is our bank account – a reserve of a healthy, living river. capable of replenishing depleted stocks. We need to constantly Let us never forget why we do what improve our knowledge of we do, nor our commitment to never population genetics so that as many give up. F of the “parts” as is possible can be conserved. We need to continually work with our state fish and game agencies and Tribal partners to H. Dale Hall is the Director of the U.S. Fish understand the current health and Wildlife Service in Washington, DC of fish populations. And we need to continue the efforts we have begun with our partners to remove those obstructions to fish passage, including levees that block access of “I didn’t go fishing and hunting fish to the floodplain, as well as the because it was a means of removal of dams that have attained the status of liability, rather than recreation, unless one interprets asset. recreation in its truest form: to The pursuit of science is the pursuit of truth. Scientists must let no re-create one’s self.” other agenda or objective deter them from that quest. They must be straightforward regarding the true level of understanding. We

Vol. 1, No. 3 Reflections on Fisheries Conservation U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service http://www.fws.gov/eddies

Fall 2008

CONSERVING

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Sharing Knowledge

What’s in your waters? The National Wild Fish Health Survey collects data on disease-causing pathogens in free-ranging fish. The Survey is maintained by the USFWS’s nine Fish Health Centers. Over 35 percent of the nation’s 2,262 watersheds have been sampled by the Survey. Fish health pathologists have analyzed 125,000 fish of 224 species from 3,000 sites in 49 states and found 19 disease-causing pathogens. Visit www.fws.gov/ wildfishsurvey to learn more. Josh Bradley

The USFWS shares scientific information with aquatic Fish Technology Center Publications resource managers and scientists worldwide via peer- 7 reviewed journals. From 2002 to the present, our Fish 20 Nutrition Technology Centers, Conservation Genetics Laboratory, 21 and Aquatic Animal Drug Approval Partnership have Genetics contributed nearly 200 papers to journals such as Molecular Ecology, Transactions of the American Physiology Fisheries Society, Journal of Comparative Physiology, 23 Pathology Journal of Applied Ichthyology, North American Journal of Fisheries Management, Aquaculture, and Conservation Habitat Biology. Linda Andreasen 58 6 Population Ecology

Hatchery Propagation 8 Technology Invasive Species

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STANDARD PRESORT Eddies POSTAGE AND FEES Reflections on Fisheries Conservation PAID U.S. DEPARTMENT U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service– Fisheries OF THE INTERIOR MS ARLSQ 720 PERMIT G-77 4401 North Fairfax Drive Arlington, VA 22203