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| Paddlefish |
| Polyodon spathula |
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| In addition to bass and crappie, Justin
Wilkens, North Mississippi Fish Hatchery manager is working with paddlefish
these days. Says Wilkens, “These paddlefish are offspring of fish collected
from the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.” Paddlefish were formerly common in
the Tombigbee River but after construction of the waterway their range and
population declined. Adult fish were collected from the waterway by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and transported back to Private John Allen
National Fish Hatchery, Tupelo, MS. There the eggs were collected and
incubated. The newly hatched fish were stocked into ponds at Tupelo, and
also sent to USFWS hatchery in Louisiana. After reaching 3 inches some of
the Louisiana fingerlings were transported to the North Mississippi Fish
Hatchery at Enid for final grow-out in 80 ft raceways. Wilkens explains,
“The fish are fed a high protein diet 16 hours per day 7 days per week and
will grow about an inch a week. We expect them to be 12 inches long by the
end of June. At that time they will be transported back to Tupelo and
receive a coded micro wire tag. The tag is smaller than a human eye lash
and will be injected into the paddle of the fish. It contains a code that
identifies what hatchery grew the fish, how big the fish when it was
stocked and where it was stocked. After tagging the fish will be stocked in
the Tenn-Tom Waterway.” Over the next several years biologist will look for
hatchery raised fish by sampling the waterway with gill nets and use a
special scanner to detect tags. If a tag is found it will be removed
without harming the fish, brought back to the lab and a microscope will be
used to read it. This information is used to track paddlefish growth and
determine if the stocking was successful. |
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Related Links & Resources:
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Rarest Large Fish in North America Captured in Alabama River, Second Biggest
● State
Fish
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A Large Gulf Sturgeon Collected and Released in Mobile Bay
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