Juvenile steelhead waiting to be sampled. |
Hi there! My name is Christina and I just completed a two week volunteer externship at the Idaho Fish Health Center and Dworshak Hatchery Complex. I wanted to share some of my experiences here on the blog and encourage anyone who’s interested in fish health to volunteer at this remarkable facility!
I came to beautiful northern Idaho from Colorado where I’m a third year veterinary student. I’d heard that fish health was fascinating and that great opportunities were becoming available for veterinarians. So I decided I wanted to learn more, to get my feet wet so to speak, in the field of fish health. And learn I did! Under the tutelage of the wonderful veterinarian and the brilliant biologists at the Idaho Fish Health Center, I’ve experienced the most fun and interesting externship of my vet student career so far. Here are some highlights:
Fish health monitoring:
The virology lab at the Idaho Fish Health Center. |
Juvenile Chinook salmon being sampled for bacterial and virologic testing. |
Trichodina, a common fish parasite, taken from a skin scraping as viewed under the microscope. |
Spawning:
The first take of steelhead was spawned on Jan. 4th (see earlier entry) and I was lucky enough to be there. It’s exciting to witness the bustle, the splashing of three foot long fish as they’re brought up into the spawning area, the clinking of machinery, and the constant circulation of buckets filled with tens of thousands of colorful eggs that will become the new generation of this unique and valuable population of steelhead trout.
Production:
But keeping fish healthy can’t be done in laboratories with just microscopes and scalpel blades! Part of my time at Dworshak was spent learning a bit about hatchery management, how the fish are kept, raised and even tracked as adults. I had a blast! One day I spent the morning separating dead from live eggs at the Nez Perce tribal hatchery. Another day I swept vats containing tiny Chinook fry at the Clearwater state hatchery. Back at Dworshak staff taught me how to pick daily mortalities out of the ponds and look for abnormal behaviors that might indicate illness. For a (very fast) change of pace I got to assist a mobile tagging crew inject PIT tags into Chinook salmon. Every day there was something completely different for me to do!
One of many ponds at Dworshak National Fish Hatchery containing tens of thousands of steelehad trout. |
Kooskia National Fish Hatchery is part of Dworshak Fisheries Complex and produces spring Chinook salmon and Coho. |
When I first arrived at Dworshak National Fish Hatchery I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. What I discovered was that fish health really is fascinating. Though I’ve learned a lot about fish through my experience, there’s still so much to learn, challenges to face, and discoveries to be made in this exciting field.
*photos courtesy of the Idaho Fish Health Center/USFWS
Nice report, Christina.
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