U.S.

Fish & Wildlife Service

Neosho National Fish Hatchery Newsletter
September-December 2010

The Neosho National Fish Hatchery Visitor Center is Open!

On December 9th, 2010 the doors to the new visitor
center were officially opened. Friends of the fish
hatchery group members, volunteers, the Neosho
mayor, Senator elect Roy Blunt, state
representatives, political representatives and FWS
staff joined the hatchery in welcoming the public
into our new facility. The tent and patio heaters
were in place, floral centerpieces carefully
arranged, catered food prepared, and three sheet
cakes cut. Over 600 visitors came out on that cold,
windy day to celebrate with us. The attendance
was a testament to the local support of this small,
but dedicated community.

The new facility truly showcases the fish that are propagated here. Dating back to 1888, the exhibit
hall highlights the rich history of this facility in a way that our previous hatchery building could not.
The 2800 gallon aquarium that sits at the center of the exhibit hall invites visitors to crawl under the
tank and view the tank through a bubble.

While pallid sturgeon yearlings and rainbow trout fingerlings reside in

tanks flanking the main aquarium tank, the main tank is a source of
pride for the hatchery. This marks the first time we have a place to
display an endangered adult pallid sturgeon. Within the main tank
swims an eight year old adult female pallid sturgeon previously hatched
at Gavins Point NFH, large rainbow trout, and 6+ year old freshwater
drum. In addition, it also houses local species such as the channel
catfish, largemouth bass, and crayfish.

In honor of the grand opening celebration, the hatchery gift shop made limited edition Christmas
ornaments. The ornaments have an image of the new visitor center on the front and are stamped
with the date of the grand opening. The gift shop, managed and run by the Friends group, is now
open Monday-Friday from 10am-3:30pm. Their schedule may change depending on demand. The
store sells the wares of local artists such as pottery, art work,
weaving, soy wax candles, wood carvings, and digital imaging.
The store also sells natural history books, historic books about
local interests, and of course, At this Place…A History of
Neosho National Fish Hatchery.

Left above: The female adult pallid sturgeon is the star in our main aquarium tank.
Left below: The bubble in the main aquarium tank is popular with adults and
children.
Right: One of the three cakes prepared and served during the grand opening.
 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

September - December 2010

Visit from LaCrosse Fish Health Center

Kenneth Phillips and Ryan Katona stopped by in November to

determine the overall health of our fish. Both men work at Region 3’s
LaCrosse Fish Health Center in LaCrosse, WI. In order to maintain a
clean hatchery facility, we are visited by staff from our region’s fish
health center twice a year. They sample every lot from our rainbow
trout production twice a year and all lots from our endangered pallid
sturgeon once a year. Above: Ryan Katona processes fish health samples of rainbow trout.

Pallid Sturgeon 2009 Year Class in the River

The last of the 2009 pallid sturgeon yearlings were tagged and stocked by
the end of October. As usual, the tagging process was not completed
without outside help. We were accompanied by staff from Missouri
Department of Conservation’s Blind
Pony State Fish Hatchery, Chillicothe
Field Station, Shepherd of the Hills
State Fish Hatchery, Chesapeake
State Fish Hatchery, and Ozark
cavefish biologist Blake Stephens
from the Neosho Forestry office. It is
only because they responded to our
last-minute call for help that these yearlings were tagged within
two days and stocked by the end of the week. Lead Biologist
Jaime Pacheco and Biologist Melissa Cheung stocked yearlings
at Ponca State Park and Nebraska City.
Left: Biologist J. Pacheco captures one of the highlights of our job: stocking endangered pallid sturgeon back into the Missouri River.
Right: Biologists J. Pacheco and M. Cheung work alongside some of the MDC staff that helped complete the tagging process.
Left below: The Friends group set up their booth and many giveaways alongside the hatchery booth.

Beautiful Day for the Fall Festival

The Fall Festival Autumn Harvest took place on

October 2nd. Held in the Neosho Square, the
center of downtown Neosho, the day allowed
hatchery staff and our friends group to engage
with local visitors. The friends group caught the
attention of passersby by raffling off great prizes
such as a recliner, vacuum seal Foodsaver,
Crockpot, and coffeemaker. Friends Group
musicians played instruments nearby to
entertain visitors throughout the day.

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September - December 2010

Freshwater Drum Harvest

At the beginning of December, we
harvested some freshwater drum for
the first time in over 4 years. Although
Pond 20 is always full of water and
freshwater drum are present, we do
not raise these fish for large scale
propagation. We hold the drum for
partners like Missouri State University
who use these host fish in their endangered native mussel programs.
Dr. Chris Barnhart and his four graduate students took 35 drum back
to their lab at Missouri State University (MSU). An interesting side
note is that an otolith sample was obtained from one of the smaller
drum by an MSU graduate student. The fish was aged at 4 years old
and was 155mm. Four large drum were placed in the big aquarium
in the new visitor center. These fish are over a foot long (230mm)
and are thought to be 6.5 years old based on the original stocking
date. (Visit the blog for video of the drum that were caught.)
Top Left: Biologist Jeff Messens nets freshwater drum from pond 20
after the water level was lowered.
Bottom Left: An example of one of the larger drum netted that day.
Right: A freshwater drum catches a rainbow trout fingerling in the new
visitor center aquarium.

Fall PEEP Day

This November, Biologist Melissa Cheung and volunteer Greg Davidson educated over 150 middle
school kids about water quality at George Washington Carver National Monument. As a member of
the Partnership for Environmental Education Programs or PEEP, Neosho NFH works with seven
other local environmental facilities to educate students about science and their local environment.

Left: Set around the pond at

Carver National Monument,
M. Cheung teaches students
about local invertebrates.
Right: Students participated
in an activity that showed
how they could assess water
quality in any body of water.

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September - December 2010

Dedication of Flags
A week before our actual grand
opening, the Daughters of the
American Revolution (DAR) and the
local Rotary Club formally dedicated
flags and the flagpole area, or
“Patriotic Courtyard”, to the fish
hatchery. Missouri state flags were
independently donated by State
Representative Kevin Wilson, State Representative Marilyn Ruestman,
and by the DAR. The DAR also donated an American flag that flies above
the Department of the Interior flag and Missouri state flag.

Earl Reynolds, previous Rotary Club president ensured that the hatchery
was given the “Patriotic Courtyard” at the main entrance to the new visitor center. He was
responsible for designing, landscaping, and securing the funds for the dedicated flag area. Crossland
Construction assisted in the project by installing the flagpoles. The contribution to the hatchery is
marked with a beautiful plaque.

Additional Outreach Activities

Barnyard Days, a local arts and crafts festival that attracts visitors from nearby Joplin and
surrounding smaller towns, was held this October 1-3. This represents the last year the popular
festival will be held in the fall. Hatchery staff participated in the event by setting up a booth and
educating visitors about our facility.

Lead Biologist Jaime Pacheco participated in Career Development Day 2010 at Missouri
Southern State University in Joplin. The fair was visited by over 750 students. Jaime was on
hand to share his experiences, career path, and current employment at Neosho National Fish
Hatchery.

Hatchery staff made an appearance at the Neosho Christmas Parade. This year’s parade was
cold as always and attracted less people than usual. Falling in line at number 78 out of 100+
entries, the hatchery was represented well with a recently acquired Chevy Silverado pulling the
distribution unit on a new, freshly painted gooseneck trailer.

For questions or to receive our newsletter regularly, please email melissa_cheung@fws.gov and request to be added to the
email list.

Interested in learning more about what we do? Visit our blog at www.NeoshoNFH.blogspot.com
520 E Park Street, Neosho, MO 64850
417-451-0554