CFI Newsletter: August 2023

It’s Summertime at CFI!

Happenings in the Hatchery

Summertime in the CFI hatchery is the most diverse time of the year. Some of our early spring spawners, like the Leopard Darter and Roanoke Logperch, are already done spawning. Their young are eating larger foods, and some Roanoke Logperch have already been sent off to our partners at the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Boulder Darters are growing closer and closer to a size where we can tag them with a harmless, fish-safe injectable tag before releasing them into the wild. Summer spawners like Barrens Topminnows and Spotfin Chub are currently laying eggs like crazy, filling up tanks and rearing trays, and keeping the hatchery bustling and busy during this time of year.

When we’re not in the hatchery, the summer is prime time for field work! We’ve been out several times to survey for rare fishes and collect Yellowfin Madtom nests. We’ve also done our first Spotfin Chub and Tennessee Dace releases of the year in Tennessee, a Duskytail Darter release in Virginia, and have released Buck Darters in Kentucky. While we’ve been battling an extremely rainy summer, we get out into the streams whenever we can to get a look at the beauty that lies beneath the surface.

Save the Date!

10.15.23: Save the Fish: Fall Dinner

On October 15th, CFI will be hosting our first ever fall fundraiser at Ijams Nature Center to help us raise funds to support the continuation of our efforts to restore freshwater biodiversity. This event will feature live music, a sustainably sourced dinner, and a great conservation conversations. Get your tickets here! Event sponsorships are also available!

10.05.23: Hidden Rivers Showing at Albright Brew

To celebrate and to build up anticipation as we approach our first fall fundraiser, Conservation Fisheries, Inc. will be hosting a Hidden Rivers of Southern Appalachia documentary showing at Albright Grove Brewing Co.! Hidden Rivers, filmed by Freshwaters Illustrated, explores the beauty beneath the surface, showcasing native fish and mussels, and those doing the hands-on conservation work to conserve and restore the freshwater biodiversity of this region.

11.03.23: First Friday Tiny Stage Comedy Show

Tiny Stage Comedy’s November First Friday show will benefit Conservation Fisheries, Inc.! We’re stoked to partner with this hysterical local group. More details to be announced!

Stay Tuned!

We’ll soon be posting more information about a September Pint Night at Elst Brewing Company.

Species Spotlight

Tennessee Dace - Chrosomus tennesseensis

Tennessee Dace are one of CFI’s most charismatic species due to their beautiful spawning coloration and lively group spawning!

CFI’s work with Tennessee Dace began last year in the spring of 2022 and is an ongoing project with the U.S. Forest Service to develop propagation protocols and contribute to a restoration project for this species on protected land. While Tennessee Dace are not federally listed, they have recently undergone a significant range reduction and require extra attention in order to avoid being added to the Endangered Species Act.

To develop propagation protocols we first needed to mimic their spawning environment. Tennessee Dace are obligate nest associates, which means that they use another species’ nest of rocks (that they build themselves!) to spawn. For Tennessee Dace, these rock nests are created by fish called River Chubs, and are called chub mounds. Since we don’t keep River Chubs in the hatchery, Curt, the Species Lead for Tennessee Dace, will create the chub mound himself. Small groups of Tennessee Dace are kept in separate tanks without chub mounds to discourage spawning. Eventually, two groups will be moved to a spawning tank and will spawn for several days, often yielding hundreds of eggs!

It has been a very exciting last two years spawning Tennessee Dace! We’re proud that we’ve come up with propagation methods that we feel confident about, and are looking forward to continuing this restoration project with the U.S. Forest Service!

Summer Highlights

Marley, Ayana, Shannon, Alex, Cole, and Anju at CFI’s Snorkel Day on the Little River

Educational Panel at Remedy Coffee with Mergoat

Conservation Fisheries hosted our first educational panel, Choked Out: A PANEL DISCUSSING KNOXVILLE’S IMPERILED URBAN CREEKS, with Mergoat at Remedy Coffee earlier this month. Bo, our Director, and Alex, Mergoat’s Landscape Architect, had a one hour discussion about the relationship that we as community members have to local, urban creeks and how we can better that relationship. This panel was elevated not only by engaging conversations and questions but by being held at Remedy, one of our favorite local coffeehouses. We knew that an event of this caliber would be best held at Remedy after learning about how ecologically focused their staff are. We couldn’t have asked for a better crew for this event, and look forward to our next panel! A big thanks to Aster for coordinating this panel!

Summer Volunteer Snorkel

Another first, this summer Conservation Fisheries planned a snorkeling day on the Little River for our volunteers! Folks who are a part of our Volunteer Program spend a lot of time in our hatchery helping us to keep things running smoothly, such as weekly maintenance and assisting conservation biologists with the hatchery responsibilities of our imperiled species. Due to scheduling restrictions and often unpredictable weather we don’t often have the opportunity to bring our volunteers into the field. Planning a snorkeling day allows our volunteers to experience first-hand the wonders that live beneath the surface in one of our favorite spots. Shannon, our Volunteer Coordinator, and several of our volunteers spent the day snorkeling, sitting in the river, and talking fish, and we couldn’t imagine a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon! We look forward to many more snorkeling days with our wonderful volunteers.

CFI Visit by Nick Tobler, the Eel Pit Guy

As Conservation Fisheries has increased our internet presence we have been building relationships with some very intelligent and curious people who either interested in or work within or adjacent to our field. Through social media we connected with Nick Tobler, Eel Pit Guy. Nick has a rainwater cistern underneath his garage where he built a fortress for his eels to live out their days. After connecting with Nick we were happy to have him at the hatchery for a tour to talk with him about our restoration efforts. He had such a great time that he even filmed and edited together parts of his tour for his YouTube channel! We’re grateful for the opportunity to have connected with and met Nick, and for using his platform to help spread awareness of our conservation work!

See Ya Later, Alligator

Since late last September we’ve had the pleasure of hosting Christo Bradstock as an intern. Christo attends Harper Adams University in Newport, United Kingdom. As a part of his program studying Wildlife Conservation and Environmental Management, Christo was required to take a Placement year to gain working experience in the field. Noticing the lack of freshwater conservation efforts local to his home, Christo reached out to Conservation Fisheries, Inc. about coming abroad to work with us for a year. He told us that he’d been following our efforts after hearing about us through Joel Sartore’s photographs of the fish in our hatchery. After much planning, Christo landed here in Knoxville to spend the next 10 months learning from our Conservation Biologists about every aspect of working in a conservation hatchery and with such imperiled fishes. Christo quickly became an important part of our CFI Family and having him around for the last year was truly a gift. Early in August he headed back home to the United Kingdom to complete the rest of his university program. We certainly feel his absence and look forward to seeing the impact he’ll make on freshwater conservation efforts in the United Kingdom.

As we say goodbye to one team member, we’d like to introduce you to another! Aster Treat joined our team initially as our Social Media Coordinator and has quickly transitioned into a more community development based role. If you’ve noticed a shift in our social media presence, notably the engaging and educational video about the work that we’re doing, that’s all been thanks to Aster! They’ve brought a fresh perspective to talking about our work and have a passion for sharing that work with not only our local community but our regional, national, and global communities as well. Through Aster’s efforts we’ve been able to share our mission with more like-minded conservation lovers than ever before. Aster’s energy when they’re in the hatchery boost morale in a way that makes even the longest and busiest days feel lighter. In addition to social media based outreach, Aster has begun to initiate local community events such as our very first educational panel, Choked Out: A PANEL DISCUSSING KNOXVILLE’S IMPERILED URBAN CREEKS, in which we partnered with our friends at Mergoat and Remedy Coffee to initiate conversations about how we as a community can have a better relationship with our urban creeks. The panel was a huge success, and we can’t wait to announce the other incredible events they’re working on!

Gratitude

As always, Conservation Fisheries is eternally grateful for your support. From our family and friends, to our community members, to folks across the country or across the pond, and everyone in between. Each one of us are so passionate about the restoration work that we do and being able to share it with you all truly brings it to another level. We’re looking forward to doing more of it.

— The CFI Team