Contacts
Doug Aloisi,
608-689-2605
The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service and the Friends of the Upper Mississippi Fisheries Services
invite the public to an open house and celebration on August 9 to dedicate
a new lake sturgeon production building at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery
in Genoa, Wis.
The event
will be held from 11 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the hatchery, located three miles
south of Genoa on State Highway 35. A formal speaking program beginning at
1 p.m. will feature U.S. Congressman Ron Kind, Fish and Wildlife Service
Assistant Director for Fisheries and Habitat Conservation Mamie Parker, Service
Regional Director Robyn Thorson, and Midwest Assistant Regional Director
for Fisheries Gerry Jackson.
The event
is free and open to the public, and will be held rain or shine. The Friends
group will serve lunch, and the event will also feature a kids’ fishing
tank, activity booths for children of all ages, and various boats and tools
of the trade used in fisheries restoration.
The hatchery’s
new lake sturgeon building features state-of-the-art sturgeon culture systems
that will allow over 30,000 sturgeon fingerlings per year to be released
into four different restoration areas, including Menominee Tribal waters
in Wisconsin and White Earth Tribal waters in Minnesota.
Genoa NFH
has been raising lake sturgeon for stocking in tribal waters since 1994.
In 2002, the hatchery recognized that it needed expanded facilities and water
supplies for this burgeoning program. Construction on the new lake sturgeon
building began in 2004.
Local contractors
built the facility and its flooring, with the hatchery staff completing the
plumbing. The new building has state-of-the-art water heating and treatment
systems for production of healthy fish.
“ This
new facility will allow the Genoa hatchery to expand its production of lake
sturgeon, a species of concern in the Midwest, and fulfill a trust responsibility
to Native American tribes by supplying them with healthy fish,” said
Hatchery Manager Doug Aloisi. “A large debt of gratitude is owed to
Congressman Ron Kind for his continuing support of the hatchery and Mississippi
river issues.”
Established
in the 1930s, Genoa’s original mission was to supply bass and bluegill
to area waters. In the 1950s, because of its location by the Mississippi
River, the hatchery turned to sportfish restoration, supplying northern pike
and walleye collected from the river to state conservation and fish and game
agencies to bolster existing fisheries, or to create new fisheries.
Today, Genoa’s
mission is focused on recovering threatened and endangered aquatic species
such as the higgins' eye pearlymussel and winged mapleleaf mussel; restoring
declining native species such as lake sturgeon, and coaster brook trout;
and assisting in the fisheries management of federal and tribal lands.
The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving,
protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for
the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre
National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife
refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas.
It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management
offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal
wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory
bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and
restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments
with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance
program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes
on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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