Students Volunteer To Prevent Disease At Iron River National Fish Hatchery
Northland College student members of the American Fisheries Society volunteered their time this fall to prevent proliferation of diseases in the upstream portions of Schacte Creek, which end up flowing through the Iron River National Fish Hatchery.
“It's an opportunity for the students to get some experience,” said Derek Ogle, associate professor of mathematical sciences and natural resources at Northland. “The idea is to not have disease in the creek, for fear disease would get into the hatchery.”
The hatchery uses 4,000 gallons of water per minute from Schacte Creek for hatchery operations, according to information from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Water is collected through three different intakes, it passes through the hatchery in different types of ponds, and then flows back into Schacte Creek.
When the water goes back into the creek it passes through a barrier that keeps fish from entering the water supply and possibly introducing contaminants and disease into the water used in the hatchery.
But even if fish are prevented from entering the hatchery's water supply, diseases can be carried in the water itself.
Populations of native brook trout and mottled sculpin live in the areas between the Schacte Creek intakes and hatchery barrier, where the wild fish reproduce. These populations, if allowed to become large enough, could harbor disease that would then flow through the water intakes into the hatchery.
“We try to keep the populations small so no disease gets started in the stream,” said Dale Bast, Iron River National Fish Hatchery manager.
To control the brook trout and mottled sculpin populations upstream from the hatchery, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service technicians use backpack shocking equipment three times per year to temporarily stun the trout and sculpins and then move the stunned fish downstream of the hatchery, where they eventually swim away.
Stunning and moving the fish usually coincides with periodic fish health inspections by the hatchery, during which the hatchery fish and wild fish in the creek are sampled to measure different health indicators.
The Northland volunteers took on the task of the hatchery technicians this fall when they stunned, identified, sampled, measured, and moved trout and sculpin from upstream Schacte Creek to a part of the creek downstream of the hatchery.
“We were seeing fish that were a couple of inches long, in the two- to four-inch range,” Ogle said. “And the stream is just beautiful.”
The student group used hatchery raingear, nets, and other equipment to carry out the project, and soon learned that field work isn’t as glamorous as it sometimes may seem. The students dodged clay sink holes, trudged through willow snags and swatted black flies and mosquitoes for eight hours, a report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reads.
“Most of the students thoroughly enjoyed a day out of doors, instead of in the classroom, and found the experience to be hard work but rewarding,” the report states. “This is a great partnership that gives students the opportunity to view their field in a career setting.”
For several years running, Northland College and the Iron River National Fish Hatchery have also partnered to allow Northland students to visit the hatchery and participate in spawning and hatchery operations.