Midwest Conservation Partners Band
Together to Further Aquatic Species Restoration
BY DOUG ALOISI, GENOA NFH
Biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Fisheries and Refuge Programs met with a representative from Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Guttenberg office to discuss using existing land and water resources on the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge to further aquatic species conservation.
Years before, the USFWS operated the Guttenberg National Fish Hatchery on the site, and its ponds still exist, albeit now part of Upper Mississippi Refuge. The hatchery system was reduced in size in the latter part of the past century, and the Guttenberg hatchery buildings and aquaria were given to the state. The pond system of the hatchery was absorbed into the Refuge, however. The existing ponds were used as a moist soil unit to benefit migratory waterfowl. But with river water supply lines and existing water control structures in place FWS and DNR personnel saw a potential to use these ponds to help in the recovery of one of the Upper Mississippi River Region's most endangered fauna, the freshwater mussel.
Future plans for the unit may include the offsite rearing of freshwater drum to propagate as host fish. Many species of mussels require a specific host fish species to complete their life cycles, and the freshwater drum is a very popular species to several rare and imperiled mussel species. The ponds may also play a valuable role in providing a good location to set mussel propagation cages. Cages house host fish that are infested with larval mussels that live on their gills. Juvenile mussels then drop off inside the cages and continue to develop. Cage locations are the most successful in areas that have low zebra mussel densities and high food content in the water, with protection from predation provided by the cages. At first blush it appears that the Guttenberg ponds have all three of these vital statistics going for them. Further logistical planning is necessary before spring to ensure water flows and pond depth can be optimized for the Unit's new role in the restoration and recovery of one of the Upper Mississippi River's most unique fauna, the freshwater mussel.