Fertilized Lake Trout eggs

As lake sturgeon culture and pond harvest wrap up for the fall, Genoa National Fish Hatchery staff members begin to focus their attention on hatching cold water fish during the winter months. Genoa staff member (Jeff Lockington) collected wild lake trout eggs from Cayuga Lake, New York. Genoa collects gametes from approximately 125 pairs of lake trout to maximize genetic contribution for future brood lines. Eggs collected from Cayuga Lake are shipped back to the hatchery for incubation in the current regional isolation facility at GNFH. Upon receiving eyed eggs, they were disinfected with iodine and incubated in heath trays at water temperatures between 7-8 °C in an insulated recirculating system. As the eggs begin to hatch, an equal representative sample of fry will be transferred to culture tanks for grow out. These lake trout will remain on station for a year and a half until they clear three fish health inspections by the La Crosse Fish Health Center (La Crosse, WI). Once all testing comes back clear, the fish will be transferred to their forever home at one of our broodstock facilities (Iron River National Fish Hatchery, WI). These fish will serve as future broodstock in the national fish hatchery system. By: Orey Eckes

Eggs going into the chiller.