Conservation Fisheries Projects

A duskytail darter, one of four species we have helped re-introduce to Abrams Creekin the Great Smokies, peers from its rocky shelter.

At any given time, our hatchery might house two dozen or more species of rare fishes. We are working to propagate many of these. Click here for more about our captive propagation programs.

For most of these species, the ultimate goal would be to return them to natural habitat from which they have been lost. Click here for more about our reintroduction efforts.

Occasionally, a fish is so rare that some of the remaining population has to be maintained in captivity in case the wild population is lost. Maintaining an "ark population" is a last resort action to conserve genetic stocks for severely imperiled species. We propagate some fish in order to maintain ark populations.

We sometimes work with close relatives of extremely rare fishes in order to develop propagation techniques. We call these stand-in species "surrogates." We have successfully used this approach on several occasions. Learn more about surrogate studies here.

An exciting new project involves developing protocols for propagating fishes as hosts for the larvae of rare mussels. To read more about mussel host fish propagation, click on the link.

Some of our most interesting work involves monitoring rare fish populations in the wild. We employ non-invasive monitoring methods, primarily snorkel surveys, that we have developed.

Please support our efforts with your tax-deductible gift today! Click the "Make a Donation" button to donate via PayPal, or click the "Just Give" button for an alternative way to donate.