Captive coregonid brood stock management facilities at Jordan River National Fish Hatchery
Contributing Authors
Executive Summary
Jordan River National Fish Hatchery (NFH) began culturing Cisco (Coregonus artedi) for a multi-agency restoration program in Lake Huron in 2018. A significant component of the program is the establishment of captive brood stocks sourced from wild populations from within Lake Huron. From the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services perspective, the ultimate goal of cisco restoration in Lake Huron is the establishment of self- sustaining population(s) in areas currently not inhabited by native stocks. Prudent policies, procedures, and execution of management goals are imperative to reduce the risk to existing populations within Lake Huron from propagation programs. Brood stock management and culture programs should be structured to minimize anthropogenic influences that have the potential to reduce fitness in introduced or extant Great Lake populations. To this end, Jordan River NFH used GLRI funding to construct incubation and rearing systems that preserved genetic contributions of donor populations to the extent practicable while creating captive lines of cisco. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff designed and built a large (+100 pair) temperature-controlled incubation array, early life stage rearing space, and lighting and feed delivery systems.