The reproductively mature adults in a population that breed (or spawn) and produce more individuals (offspring or progeny).
Learn more about broodstock isolation facility which plays a key role in efforts to restore lake trout and brook trout in the Great Lakes Region.
Those attending the ceremony, 10 a.m. June 10, will have an opportunity to watch hatchery staffs load approximately 15,000 trout for delivery to Iron River National Fish Hatchery, Wisconsin, and witness the signing of the two-year agreement to rear trout in a special isolation facility for the Great Lakes and other areas within the Region.
John Christian, Assistant Regional Director for Fisheries, said, "The lake trout and brook trout restoration effort will continue successfully thanks to the cooperative efforts of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. Fish hatcheries play an important role in achieving mutual benefits for interjurisdictional fishery resources and lake trout restoration efforts. Midwestern tribes have responded to the challenges of resource management in their unique role as users and managers of more than 900,000 acres of reservation inland lakes, treaty ceded territories and the Great Lakes. Their contributions toward restoring these species are greatly appreciated."
Dale Bast, Iron River National Fish Hatchery, said, "This agreement fosters the continued integration of fish health and fish genetics into the Services captive broodstock program. We need disease-free broodstocks that represent the genetics of wild fish. The Keweenaw Bay Indian Fish Hatchery first initiated this two-year cooperative program in September 1995 by providing fish isolation facilities for four lots of wild trout eggs from brook trout at Isle Royale National Park and lake trout from Caribou (Michigan), Traverse (Michigan) and Apostle Islands (Wisconsin). The Community successfully reared the fish through the required two-year disease clearance period which included 3 fish health inspections."
According to Bast, "The first phase of this project was completed by the Community with excellent results. The 12,000 lake trout and 3,000 brook trout yearlings that were being held in isolation were given the very best of care and, now that a pathogen-free disease history has been established, these fish will be transferred from the Communitys Hatchery to the Iron River National Fish Hatchery," Bast said. "There they can be safely used for further egg production and the subsequent fingerlings will then be used to meet restoration stocking efforts throughout the Great Lakes basin."
The new agreement includes the production of 100,000 lake trout yearlings at the Iron River National Fish Hatchery, supporting the fish stocking priorities of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.
Fred Dakota, Tribal Chairman, said, "Our agreements with the Service have further enabled us to cooperate in native fisheries restoration in the Great Lakes. The Community is pleased with the results of these agreements and looks forward to working with the Service on other natural resource projects."
Christian noted, "This agreement with the Community is vitally important to meet the demand for new broodstocks until a long-term solution for isolation needs is achieved. Also, it supports the Department of the Interiors trust relationship with tribal governments. And, equally important, the agreement will help us keep healthy lake and brook trout in the Great Lakes for all of the people of the Region to enjoy."
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Fish Hatchery is located in Michigans Upper Peninsula on the LAnse Indian Reservation, about 7 miles northeast of LAnse, MI on Pequaming Road.
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 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 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 Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
