Raceway Building Finished

Construction of the new raceway building at Pendills Creek NFH was

completed in September. Only a few minor projects remained, the lighting
system and wiring of the garage door openers, which were finished in
October. Production fish at the hatchery can now rest easy as they are
finally free from the nightly visits from predators and inclement weather.
PRODUCTION
Inspection Time
On August 31st and September 1st the
La Crosse Fish Health Center performed
their annual summer/fall fish health
inspection at Sullivan Creek and Pendills
Creek National Fish Hatcheries. This year
the Fish Health Center collected the
normal fish samples from the hatcheries
along with wild fish samples from Videan’s
Creek. In half an hour’s time, Biologist
James Anderson was able to collect twenty-
five fish from Videan’s Creek for the fish
health team to sample. Fish species
collected were brook trout, rainbow trout
(steelhead), and mottled sculpin. Now, the
waiting begins to see what the results will
be on the samples collected by Fish Health.
-James Anderson
Early Dismissal - Sullivan Creek
When Sullivan Creek National Fish
Hatchery has excess lake trout brood fish,
the hatchery partners with the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources and
Environment (DNRE) to locate inland lakes
which have the essential habitat base and
depth required by our large lake trout. On
June 24th Sullivan Creek National Fish
Hatchery stocked out one hundred and
thirteen fish from its 2003 year class of
Seneca Lake Wild lake trout brood stock.
The lake trout averaged twenty five inches
in length with an average weight of eight
pounds. The one hundred and thirteen fish
were split between two lakes; one in
Marquette County and one in Alger County
of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The
first was Ackerman Lake, located
between Munising and Chatham. Thirteen
of the brood fish were stocked into the
lake. This is the first time that Sullivan
Creek NFH has stocked this lake. After the
quick stop at Ackerman Lake, it was on to
Sporley Lake for the rest of the brood fish.
This is the third year in a row that Sullivan
Creek has stocked Sporley Lake with excess
brood fish. On September 15th and 22nd two
stocking runs to the western and northwest
end of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula were
completed. The run on September 15th was
to Lake Roland in Houghton County. Lake
Roland received five hundred 2008 Seneca
Lake Wild brood stock. The fish averaged
eight and three-quarter inches and a
quarter of a pound. On September 22nd,
one thousand 2007 Huron Parry Sound
Wild brood were stocked into Lake Fanny
Hooe, which at the tip of the Keweenaw
Peninsula. The 2007 Huron Parry Sound
lake trout averaged fourteen and a quarter
inches and one and a quarter pounds. This
is the first time that Sullivan Creek has
stocked Lake Fanny Hooe.
-James Anderson
Coded Wire Tagging
For the first time, all the lake trout are coded
wire tagged (CWT) and adipose fin clipped
at Pendills Creek NFH. The goal of the
Great Lakes Mass Marking Program is to
mark all 25 million trout and salmon
stocked into the Great Lakes by all federal,
state, and tribal agencies to improve the
restoration and management of Great
Lakes fish communities and the habitats
they depend on. The Council of Lake
Committees and Great Lakes Fishery
Commission submitted the project to
enhance fish restoration and management
in the Great Lakes. Each CWT contains a
code which enables fishery managers to
determine the age, strain, stocking location
and stocking event for the fish. All fish with
CWTs are adipose clipped, and when caught,
and the heads returned, the CWT can be
removed and read for the vital information.
Two AutoFish System trailers from
Northwest Marine Technology (NMT)
arrived at Pendills Creek the last week in
September, 2010. The trailers were run by
staff from the Green Bay NFWCO, and also
utilized six of Pendills Creek NFH’s animal
caretakers. The trailers started operating on
September 29th, and finished with over
980,000 lake trout in less than twelve full
working days. Between the two trailers, on
the best days, just over 120,000 lake trout
were processed.
The AutoFish System trailers use advanced
technology to sort and process lake trout,
and is a cost effective way to handle fish
rapidly without the use of anesthetic. The
AutoFish trailers were set up at Pendills
Creek NFH to put CWTs in the snouts and
also clip off the adipose fin of every yearling
on station. The AutoFish System replaces
the old way of fish marking at Pendills Creek
NFH, which was to clip a different set of fins
for each year class by hand, and not have any
CWT implanted. Much more valuable
information will be able to be gleaned from
the CWT lake trout from Pendills Creek
NFH than just fin clips could provide.
- Crystal LeGault-Anderson
MEETINGS & TRAINING
Curt Friez attended the Region 5/Region 3
Coordination meeting October 18th to the
21st at Alleghany NFH in Warren, PA.