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<br />. National fish hatchery named. in Ouray, Utah.
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<br />What started a decade ;ago, in north-
<br />. eastem Utah as an experimental facility
<br />, for raising' endangered . fish now has'
<br />. been designated by the U.S, Fish and
<br />Wildlife Service a national fishhatcheiy,
<br />One of 72 such hatcheries natiimc
<br />wide, . . the Ouray National Fish.
<br />. Hatchery boasts of 22 ponds totaling
<br />. . 4.4 acres, his the largest endangered
<br />fish haichery in the upper Colorado
<br />River Basin, .
<br />. rn the 'I 980s, the only facility rais-
<br />ing endangered fish was in Dexter,
<br />N.M, ---'- a considerable distance from
<br />the 'upper' Basin states of Colorado,
<br />Utah and Wyoming and unable to meet
<br />all demands for endangered Colorado
<br />squawfish, razorback .suckers, b'onytail
<br />and' humpback chubs, Responding to
<br />this need" SerVice biologists. pulled
<br />together money. from . various federal
<br />, sources. to dig three ponds for endan,
<br />.gered fish and to construct a small
<br />. building on the south side of the Ouray .
<br />National Wildlife Refuge,
<br />. Haichery workers began operating
<br />the facility in 1987, As efforts to recov-
<br />er the fish intensified, deman~ on the
<br />small facility grew, leading the SeIVice
<br />to .break ground on. a pennanent hatch-
<br />ery on the north side .of the refuge in
<br />1992, Over four years, 5001" more
<br />adult. endangered fisli have been
<br />removed from the wild and temporari-.
<br />. Iy placed in the ponds for safe keeping.
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<br />Photo-by Cathy Ka~marek .
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<br />Hatchery manager Tom Pruitt uses a
<br />net 'to scoop up endangered razor ~
<br />back suckers for weighing, measuring.
<br />and sorting.
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<br />. . . . ". . Photo by Tom Pruitt
<br />Steve Severson, a biologist with the Ouray National Fish Hatchery in Utah,
<br />turns a valve, to adjust flows into a 'cOnditioning pond.' There,the .water will be
<br />wanned, algae will bereduced and dissolved, oxygen stabilized,
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<br />Pruitt and his four-member staff man-
<br />age 17 wild adult razorback suckers,
<br />more ihan 6,000 of their young, nearly
<br />.1,400 young Colorado squawfish and a
<br />handful of adult bonytaiis.
<br />The hatchery workers are conduct-
<br />ing .recovery-related research aimed at
<br />preventing defonnities and maximiz-
<br />ing growth in hatchery-raised endan-
<br />gered 'fish,. developing 'mechanisms to
<br />imprint the fish to spawn in the wild
<br />and identifying better .techniques for
<br />tagging fish before they are stocked.
<br />Within two years, Pruitt plans to
<br />construct a hatchery building and exca-
<br />vate another. 14 endangered-fish ponds,
<br />bringing the planned total to 36. .
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<br />These adult fish also have been used to
<br />produce thousands of young eiidan,
<br />gered fish for research and stocking, .
<br />The national. fish hatchery designa-
<br />tion - granted by the US, Fish and
<br />Wildlife SerVice's Washington, D.C., .
<br />. headquarters - brings with it more sta,
<br />bIe Congressional funding ,for hatchery
<br />.' staff, equipment and maintenance.
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<br />"Unstable .funding and lacking of
<br />rearing space have been problems in
<br />the past," said Hatchery Manager Tom.
<br />Pruirt. "Designation as a national fish
<br />hatchery will give us the tools to pro-
<br />duce healthier fish with better, chances
<br />of sUIVival in ihe wild."
<br />With an animal budget of $250,000,
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