The official web resource of the Colorado Aquaculture Association

Current News

December 2009--Newsletter and Fish Bits

To view a PDF version of The Fish Line and Fish Bits, please click here.

 Fish farmers, don’t forget that 2010 Aquaculture Permit Renewal Applications were due by December 31, 2009! If you provided your email address to Scott Leach at CDA, then you should have received your renewal application by email the first week of December. If you do not have an email address, then your renewal application was mailed to you the first week of December. You can always find the application online at www.colorado.gov/ag/animals, then go to the Aquaculture Program and click on the Aquaculture Permit Application link.

 Governor’s Forum on Colorado Agriculture, Energizing Colorado Agriculture through Strategic Research, will be held on February 18, 2010, at the Renaissance Denver Hotel, 3801 Quebec Street. A pre-Forum reception will be held at the Governor’s Residence, Boettcher Mansion, on February 17^th from 5:30 - 7:30 PM. For registration information, visit CDA’s website http://www.colorado.gov/ag/forum.

 Aquaculture 2010 will be held March 1 - 5, 2010, in San Diego, California. Visit www.was.org/meetings or for more information, see page 6.

 Researchers from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine made an unexpected discovery while sequencing the genome of the parasitic protozoan Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, (Ich). DNA sequences were also present from two apparently symbiotic intracellular bacteria: Bacteroides, which are usually found free-living; and Rickettsia, which are obligate intracellular bacteria. They determined that the two new species of intracellular bacteria use Ich as their host. Continued studies will determine if these intracellular bacteria play a role in infection and if these findings may lead to developing better treatments for Ich. (From: 12/3/2009 News Release- http://www.uga.edu/news/artman/publish/091203_Ich.shtml) For more on Ich, see page 1.

 Phil Goebel, CDOW, Assistant Aquatic Manager and Special Projects Coordinator, retired on December 1, 2009, after 29½ years of service. Phil is known by fish farmers as the representative of CDOW on The Fish Health Board. Phil began his career with CDOW as an Aquatic Biologist in Denver and retired as Assistant Aquatic Manager and Special Projects Coordinator. He was instrumental in: the development of Colorado’s first urban fisheries program; opening new waters to public angling; introducing tiger muskies to the state; the publication “Fishing Close to Home;” and in the development of many innovative ways to communicate with and educate anglers and potential anglers. His retirement plans include spending a lot more time with his family (including four grandchildren), skiing, fishing, and catching up on things around the house.

 Recently, on The Food Network, www.foodnetwork.com, host Alton Brown featured farm raised trout. The reason stated was his “Concern about the impact of over-fishing” so he chose to explore “tasty and extremely sustainable farm-raised trout.” Recipes included, Hot Smoked Trout, Rollmops, and Escabeche of Trout. (From http://www.foodnetwork.com/good-eats/the-once-and-future-fish/index.html)

 According to the Colorado Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Colorado has one of the highest prevalence rates of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the country. Therefore of interest, is a new book for kids on MS, Mom’s Story; A Child Learns About MS, by Mary Nickum. It is the story of a young girl who sees her mother with some frightening health problems and learns she has MS but she will not die from it. This book is a “compassionate, accessible and easy to understand account of symptoms, search for help, diagnosis and adaptation to this heart-wrenching disease.” It is available from: Ingram Book Group, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Chalet Publishers, LLC, and the author, www.marynickum.com.

 A new SRAC publication, “Preventing Hitchhiking Nonindigenous Species in Live Shipments,” SRAC Publication No. 3902, October 2009, is now available at: http://srac.tamu.edu/. Look for publication 3902 under Harvesting, Holding and Hauling.

 Many long time USTFA members may remember Hugo and Ruby Kettula of Seven Pines Trout Hatchery in Lewis, Wisconsin. Both Hugo and Ruby were active in the Wisconsin Aquaculture Association and the USTFA. Ruby and Hugo died within days of each other on November 25^th and 27^th, respectively. Their obituaries can be found at www.swedberg-taylor.com.

 Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE ) website has the results of the Colorado Fish Tissue Study, a five-year study that began in 2004. The CDPHE website has fish consumption advisories generated from the study along with supporting reports and analytical data. Locations of concern can easily be located on the map provided. This study is part of a national screening-level survey of chemical residues in fish tissue from lakes and reservoirs in the lower 48 states by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The purpose is to document chemical concentrations in fish tissue that are above levels of potential concern for humans or for wildlife that eat fish. Go to: http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/wq/fishcon/index.html. Links to consumption advisories in other states can be found at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/states.htm.

A zebra mussel eradication program that began in 1999, led by scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Darrin Fresh Water Institute, used a low-tech approach – physical removal by scuba divers, to remove zebra mussels in Lake George, NY. They were able to show that it might be possible to remove enough mussels to reduce the population density to the point where successful reproduction can be impeded. The program involved a broad-based surveillance program followed up with the SCUBA-based removal approach while zebra mussel populations were still relatively small. The research was published late summer 2009 in the journal Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. (From RPI News Release, http://green.rpi.edu/archives/zebra_mussels/index.htm)

• Home •

Copyright © 1999-2010 Colorado Aquaculture Association.  All rights reserved.  Do not copy or reproduce without permission.