U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service
Neosho National Fish Hatchery Newsletter
Current Events in Fish
Production
Extra Fish Anyone?
During April and May, we
distributed a total of 28,391
surplus rainbow trout to two
hatcheries. Roaring River State
Fish Hatchery received 18,415
trout and Spring River State Fish
Hatchery from Arkansas received
9,976 trout.
These rainbow trout are ready to be
stocked.
Because we will not need these
fish to fulfill our annual
commitment of 225,000 rainbows
stocked into Lake Taneycomo, we
can afford to share what we have.
In addition, the space and food
that would have gone toward
these fish is now available to the
302,000+ rainbow trout already
on station.
Sturgeon Spawning Begins
The pallid sturgeon spawning
period is off to a great start. Blind
Pony State Fish Hatchery in
Sweet Springs, MO spawned 4
females and 8 males. Finding this
many sexually mature endangered
pallid sturgeon could only have
been possible through the
cooperation of the entire Middle
Basin Recovery Work Group.
Assistant Manager Rod May and
Lead Biologist Jaime Pacheco
made a special trip to Blind Pony
to assist in the spawning effort.
The eggs from one female were
divided and spawned with two
different males. As the saying
goes, hatchery staff try to avoid
putting all of our eggs in one
basket. So to apply it here, we
split half of our pallid sturgeon
eggs with Gavins Point NFH in
South Dakota. In turn, Gavins
Point has already given us a
portion of their eggs and will
share their pallid sturgeon fry with
us. Blind Pony has also shared a
portion of their eggs and fry with
us. The goal of this strategy is to
give these endangered fish
optimum space and environmental
conditions, and to provide a buffer
in case anything should jeopardize
the pallid sturgeon program at any
individual station.
Bruce Drecktrah and Jake Calhoun of
Blind Pony State Fish Hatchery and
Rod May from Neosho work together
to extract sperm from a male adult
pallid.
Finished Tagging the Pallid
Juveniles!
Two of our partners from the
Middle Basin Pallid Sturgeon
April-June 2009
Recovery Work Group visited our
hatchery at the end of May to help
us tag our two year classes of
pallid sturgeon juveniles.
Rick Horton records data into our
tagging program.
Staff from Nebraska Game and
Parks Commission out of Lincoln,
NE and Missouri Department of
Conservation staff from
Chillicothe, MO helped the
Neosho staff PIT tag, remove
scutes, and record valuable
tagging data. Rick Horton and
Blake Stephens from the local
Neosho Missouri Department of
Conservation office
also volunteered their time to
assist.
Some of the fantastic crew that
assisted in tagging pallids from
Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission and Missouri
Department of Conservation posed
for a quick photo.
Their teamwork and efficient
tagging greatly expedited our task
of tagging over 3,100 fish. In fact,
it is only because of their help that
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Neosho National Fish Hatchery Newsletter April-June 2009

we completed all tagging in just
two days!
Returning Sturgeon to Their
Native Habitat
The most satisfying part about
raising endangered fish is being
able to put them back into their
native habitat. This June, Neosho
staff has been extremely busy
travelling to and from stocking
sites. Our juveniles from the 2007
year class were taken to Bellevue,
NE, Sloan Landing, IA, and
Mulberry Bend, NE. The fish
from the 2008 year class were
stocked at four sites in four
different states: Kansas, Missouri,
South Dakota, and Nebraska.
again in future mark-recapture Newsletter, came to us through
studies. this same job program.
Community Activities
Annual Open House
Despite the rainy weather, our
annual open house on April 19th
was a fantastic turn out! Tours
were provided throughout the day
and lunch, coffee and homemade
cookies were served. Josh Jennings, one of our interns
Our open house coincided with helping out at the hatchery for the
the annual Dogwood Tour, a self- summer, was of great assistance
guided driven tour around Neosho during the FFA event at Seneca.
that showcases dogwood trees in
bloom. As part of our annual We are excited to have interns
open house events, Missouri Josh Jennings, Michael
Department of Conservation Tascarella, and Sam Schenck
succeeded in giving away 2,000 helping us. With our two fishing
dogwood, redbud, and pine trees derbies, busy hatchery tour
to the public. We are very schedule, and pallid sturgeon
appreciative of the Missouri tagging and stocking programs all
Department of Conservation, our coinciding, we could not have
Friends of the Neosho National gained more helpers at a better
Fish Hatchery Group, the Master time.
Gardeners Club, the Monett Bee
Club, the Rock Specialist, Tim's
educational snake booth, and the
many others that volunteered their
time and talents.

More Helping Hands

These pallids are just about to be
released into the Missouri River at
Sloan Landing, IA.
These two-year old and one-year
old fish are the biggest pallids that
we have ever raised from fry and
stocked! These juveniles
averaged 13.7 and 12 inches in
length, respectively. Previously,
we have stocked our pallids at 9
inches. We hope the 3,291 total
pallids that were stocked are seen
This is our first year to have
interns through the Division of
Youth Services Job Program.
These interns typically work with
us up to 3 months at a time and
are funded by the state of
Missouri. The internships are
intended to match teens with a job
experience of their interest. These
interns can use the program to add
experience to their resume, gain
professional references, and
hopefully, get inspired about a
future career.
Dylon Briley, previously
introduced in the March
From left to right: Michael, Josh, and
Sam attach hooks, sinkers, and
bobbers to fishing poles during the
Kid’s Fishing Derby.
A Whole Lot of Fishing!
The last few weeks have been
very busy as we kicked off our
two annual fishing derbies and
assisted Shepherd of the Hills
State Fish Hatchery with their
fishing Derby.
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Neosho National Fish Hatchery Newsletter April-June 2009

Liam Pacheco, Jaime Pacheco’s son
caught his limit of 4 rainbow trout at
the derby.
Our Kid’s Fishing Clinic and
Derby took place on June 5th.
Before letting the 150+ children
between ages 8 to 12 fish, we
shuffled them through five short,
but important outdoor classes:
boat safety, fire safety, casting,
knot tying, and stream ecology.
Lunch, plenty of water, fishing
equipment and safety glasses were
provided. The weather was
fantastic and we owe much thanks
to our many volunteers, Friends of
Neosho National Fish Hatchery
group, Missouri Department of
Conservation staff and summer
interns who came out to help.
The very next day was the Kid’s
Fishing Derby at Shepherd of the
Hills State Fish Hatchery. Some
of the Neosho staff travelled to
Branson to set up an educational
booth and assist our Missouri
Department of Conservation
partner wherever we could. They
also had a great turn-out with over
190 children coming to fish and
investigate the fun and
educational activities that were
planned for the day.
A good number of people tried to fish
before the rain really started pouring.
The Elderly and Handicapped
Fishing Derby kicked off at
almost 8am this year on June 12th.
The rain did not deter about 100
elderly and handicapped visitors
from fishing and enjoying the
lunch and refreshments that were
provided.
National Weather Service
Recognizes 100 Years of
Weather Data Collection
Neosho National Fish Hatchery
was awarded by the National
Weather Service for 100 years of
weather data collection. A modest
ceremony was held at the hatchery
followed by lunch.
Bill Davis, meteorologist in charge at
the National Weather Service office
in Springfield, presents Dave Hendrix
with an award.
Hatchery staff collect weather
observations every morning,
record high and low temperatures,
and measure the amount of
precipitation if any. This daily
task has been relatively
uninterrupted since October 1,
1909. Our long-term weather data
is a valuable resource because our
weather station is one of the oldest
in the state and the weather station
itself has been moved only once
about 200 feet from its original
location. You can read more
about how our weather data is
being used at:
http://www.neoshodailynews.com
/news/x726825001/Weather-
service-honors-hatchery. Our
blog also has a link to this article.
Check out
www.neoshonfh.blogspot.com.
Interested in learning more
about what we do? Visit our
blog at
www.NeoshoNFH.blogspot.com.
Take a behind-the-scenes glimpse
at what we do, keep updated on
current events, and check out our
links to additional information on
the blog. Stop by for a tour at
520 E Park Street, Neosho, MO
64850, 417-451-0554.
Unless otherwise stated, articles are
written and assembled by Melissa
Cheung.
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Neosho National Fish Hatchery Newsletter April-June 2009

Trying to Save the Future

By Russell Hively
Neosho Daily News
Wed Jun 10, 2009, 01:04 PM CDT

In early May, biologists at the Neosho National Fish Hatchery

had an opportunity that many fisheries people never get. They
spawned an endangered species.

Fish hatchery manager Dave Hendrix and assistant manager

Rod May spawned a pallid sturgeon, an ancient fish which
lives primarily in the Missouri and lower Mississippi River
basins. The pallid sturgeon is a relic of the dinosaur era that
has lived in pre-historic rivers for about 70 million years.
Pallid sturgeon can grow to be very large fish, up to eighty-
five pounds at maturity, and they can live to be 100 years old.
But their numbers began decreasing about 20 years ago.

The pallid sturgeon is considered to be a good tasting fish, and

the female's eggs have been too often sold and eaten as caviar.

Changing habitat, over fishing, and harvesting females for caviar have lowered the populations, putting the
pallid sturgeon on the endangered species list. The Neosho National Fish Hatchery and eleven other state and
federal hatcheries are working to save this ancient fish from extinction.

This year, a female pallid from the Missouri River was spawned at the local hatchery. Spawning this ancient
fish is not a simple matter.
First, wild fish must be caught in the Missouri River. Then each fish must be
checked to see if it is genetically a pallid sturgeon, as they will cross breed with
other sturgeon. Then the females must be checked to see if they will produce eggs
this season. They usually only have mature eggs every other year.

Then a mature male has to be located.

After all the tests and careful observation were made, the male and female at
Neosho were determined to be ready for spawning. The male is caught and a
sample of sperm removed. Scientific work with the female is much more
complicated.

The general process is to take the eggs from the female and then blend in sperm
from the male to fertilize the eggs. Taking eggs from the female is time
consuming as handlers "milk" her every hour until all the eggs are taken.
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Neosho National Fish Hatchery Newsletter April-June 2009

Blending the eggs and sperm is done in a container and, at the Neosho hatchery, the blending is done with a
turkey feather. This is an old method that is still popular with fisheries experts. There are other more modern
ways to blend the eggs and sperm, but Hendrix and May are comfortable with the old turkey feather method.

Eventually the eggs are placed in a hatching jar and then it's just a matter of waiting for the hatch.

The spawning was deemed a success. The last of the eggs were extracted about 4 p.m., and the following day,
the nucleus had already divided, meaning the fertilization had been successful. Now, the two "expectant
fathers," Dave Hendrix and Rod May, are just waiting for the babies.

Much time is required in the process of spawning pallid sturgeon. This work
is being done at several hatcheries, all in an effort to save an endangered
species—the ancient pallid sturgeon.

Preserving endangered species is a high priority in America because the old

native species of plants, animals and fish are barometers of our natural
resources. The introduction of non-native species into our fields and streams
has often led to disaster. Millions of dollars and millions of man hours are
spent each year to get rid of invasive species that have come to America and
caused damage and destruction.

Native plants and animals are better for the nation, and efforts to preserve
them are worth all the time and trouble it takes to prevent their extinction
and have them still around in the future.