FISH PRODUCTION
Fin Clipping Ends
Friday, December 11th, marked the end of
fin clipping at Pendills Creek NFH.
With nine clippers on board the crew had
to endure a triple clip on the fall fingerlings
and a double clip on the yearlings that will
be stocked out this coming spring. Over
a million lake trout were clipped.......but
wait there's more!! An additional 155,000
lake trout from Iron River NFH were
received on November 14th. In total that’s
almost 1.3 million fish clipping in 13 weeks.
Good work fin clippers and we'll see you
next year.
-Jaime Masterson
Excess Broodstock Released
In October and November, the Sullivan
reek and Pendills Creek NFHs, along with
assistance from Jordan River NFH with use
Photo: The Oakland Press
of their small fish distribution truck,
released 1,820 excess lake trout broodstock
into six different inland Michigan lakes.
-James Anderson
Egg Transfers
Sullivan Creek NFH shipped out over 4.5
million eyed lake trout eggs to Iron River
NFH, Jordan River NFH, Pendills Creek
NFH, and Marquette SFH. More than
1,200 female lake trout of the Seneca Lake
Wild strain were spawned, the eggs
collected, fertilized with milt from the male
broodfish, and then incubated at Sullivan
Creek NFH until they developed into eyed
eggs. Once the eggs are "eyed” they are
shocked to make the unfertilized eggs turn
opaque, and then processed through
automatic egg pickers which separate the
good eyed eggs from the bad opaque eggs.
Sullivan Creek NFH is a dedicated lake
trout broodfish facility, and will provide
eggs to any federal, state, or tribal facility to
help with the restoration of lake trout in
the Great Lakes.
-Crystal LeGault-Anderson
Pendills Receives Lake Trout Eggs
December 29th about 240, 000 eyed Seneca
Lake Wild eggs were transferred from
Sullivan Creek NFH to Pendills Creek NFH.
-Jaime Masterson
UPDATES
Parry Sound Lake Trout Broodfish Have
All Arrived At Sullivan Creek NFH
Three year classes of Huron Parry Sound
Wild, or HPW, arrived at Sullivan Creek
NFH during September 2007, September
2008, and October 2009. During the fall of
2005, 2006, and 2007, biologists from the
FWS and OMNR collected a small group
of eggs from wild Parry Sound lake trout.
HPW brood stock were held at Chatsworth,
undergoing intensive fish health sampling
prior to importation into the US to ensure
the Parry Sound fish were free of viral
hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS). Finally,
pathology reports proved negative for VHS
and other certifiable diseases, dates each
year were chosen for the transfer of the
Parry Sound fish from Chatsworth to
Brimley, Mich. Now all three year classes
are being cared for at Sullivan Creek NFH.
The Parry Sound lake trout at Sullivan
Creek NFH will also serve as a backup
to the OMNR’s own lines of Parry Sound
fish, in case of a disease outbreak or some
unforeseen circumstance. If all goes well,
the first lake trout yearlings of this strain
could be stocked as early as 2013.
-Crystal LeGault-Anderson
USGS and Sullivan Creek NFH
Partner For Lake Trout Feed Trial
Sullivan Creek NFH in Brimley, Michigan
was chosen as a site for a USGS feed diet
trial during the fall of 2009. The “official”
title of the USGS study is “Effects of
conjugated linoleic acid on lake trout
reproduction, fatty acid deposition, and
embryo survival and hatchability”.
After the female 2001 Seneca Lake wild lake FRIENDS OF PENDILLS
trout were spawned in October 2009, a
random group of 108 females were pit Friends Of Pendills Christmas Party
tagged by USGS personnel; then December 5th , 2009 the Friends of Pendills
randomly split into four groups each held Group held their annual Christmas party.
in their own section of raceway. USGS The event was a success with food, games,
personnel also took egg, liver, fat, and Christmas gift exchanges and the most
hindgut samples from four females for attendees they’ve seen in years .
baseline testing. The USGS is supplying -Jaime Masterson
four feeds with different fat levels and
levels of CLA for the next two years.
During the study, more samples of
egg, liver, fat, and hindgut will be analyzed;
along with samples of fertilized eggs for
development and hatchability. No eggs
from these females will be used to provide OTHER NEWS
production eyed eggs to any facilities, and
all pens of females are downstream of all Furbearers at Pendills/Sullivan Creek NFH
Sullivan Creek’s other lake trout brood fish, During the month of November, Trapper
so their special diets will not impact the Kurt Harjala of Johannesburg, MI came up
other fish. The purpose of the study is to to rid us of some particularly pesky critters.
assess both beneficial effects of Trapping 3 beavers and 4 mink between the
conjugated dienoic derivatives of linoleic two hatcheries in just the first day.
acid (CLA) in a high fat diet on lake trout -Jaime Masterson
fertilization and development, and the
negative effects of a low fat CLA diet on
fatty acid deposition in trout eggs. The
project specifically targets both the adult
fish and the embryo life history stages.
-Crystal LeGault-Anderson