Gone Fishing Aquaculture Project

“The Gone Fishing" Aquaculture Project in Klamath County Oregon

I was recently researching Aquaculture projects in Oregon and I stumbled across this gem here in Southern Oregon (not far from the California border) that I feel my readers would be interested in. This aquaculture farm is used to raise 85 varieties of Cichlids from Lake Malawi in Africa’s Great Rift Valley as well as some from Central America.
“Gone Fishing” sells 250,000 of the fish annually to tropical fish wholesalers from Portland, OR to San Francisco, CA; shipped weekly by truck to Sacramento, and then by air to the various other outlets.

The “Gone Fishing” aquaculture project is located about 10 miles south of Klamath Falls, Oregon, near Merrill in the Lower Klamath Valley adjacent to the Klamath Hills.
The original ponds at this facility were constructed in 1984 and have seen limited use. Ron Barnes started the current facility in 1990 using the effluent from a geothermal greenhouse operation on the Liskey Ranch located on Lower Klamath Lake Road.

Geology/Logistics:
The geology of this part of Southern Oregon in Klamath County consists of large normal fault blocks, typical of the Basin and Range province. The Klamath Hills are typical of these fault blocks, allowing geothermal waters that circulate at depth, and move to the surface in shallow aquifers that are easily tapped for the Gone Fishing Aquaculture Farm.

At the original location, a greenhouse complex consisting of four 6,000 square-foot buildings are heated using a peak of 400 gpm from six geothermal wells ranging in temperature from 80F to 200F and all are around 100 feet deep.
The newer set of ponds are provide geothermal water from a 460-foot deep well that pumps up to 300 gpm of 210F water. The water surface in the newer well is at 120 feet and the line shaft pump bowls are set at 190 feet.

The water from the wells is alkaline with a pH of 8.8 out of the wells, but the chemical composition of the pond liners (diatomaceous earth) and soil surrounding the ponds reduce the pH to about 7.5 as the water flows through the system. The water is primarily a sodium-sulfate type of about 600 ppm that can be used directly in the ponds without harm to the fish. This is about the same chemical composition as the water of Lake Malawi.

The average annual sunshine in this part of Oregon is also quite high (as even winter cloud cover is not as continuous as western parts of Oregon due to the blocking affects of the Cascade Mountains). This also allows for some duplication of Africa’s Rift Lake areas high amount of sunshine, although the lower winter sun here at this latitude does substantially lower beneficial light energy such as UVA as well as PAR light wave lengths (UVB is not considered necessary for fish, while UVC although useful for UV Sterilization as found in UVC Bulbs does not even reach the Earths surface even in tropical latitudes). This may slow the growth of plant material grown in the ponds for these generally omnivorous fish.

A Little History
In 1998, Ron Barnes purchased 80 acres of land just north of the greenhouses on the opposite side of the road. The operation has grown to 37 ponds located on the Liskey Ranch and 35 at the new “Gone Fishing” location.
Future plans (that may already have been accomplished) are to raise food grade Tilapia here as well.

For further information, please see these sites:
*http://geoheat.oit.edu/bulletin/bull23-3/art2.pdf
*http://www.geothermal.org/articles/fish.pdf
*http://geoheat.oit.edu/bulletin/bull24-2/art3.pdf

Oregon Shark Cam

Shark Cam brings Coast Aquarium to life on the Web

From www.kgw.com/news-local/stories

By FRANK MUNGEAM, Kgw.com Staff

The KGW "Shark Cam" is a partnership with the Oregon Coast Aquarium, providing a fish-eye view into the Aquarium's "Passages of the Deep" exhibit.

Web visitors to KGW.com can now enjoy the same experience as Visitors to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, who are immersed in Keiko’s former home through acrylic tunnels surrounded by several feet of sea water. "Passages of the Deep" gives visitors an experience almost like walking into the open ocean.

Visitors get to come face to face with large sharks, rockfish and bat rays swimming above and below. Waves surging against the tunnel give visitors the impression they are beneath the ocean. And the Oregon shipwreck resting on the bottom increases the feeling of being early undersea explorers.

Now viewers of the KGW "Shark Cam" can enjoy that same experience: an up-close view of sharks, rockfish and bat rays swimming across the desktop of their computer!

Comment
This is a really cool place to visit, and now you can visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium from your home via the Shark Cam!!

View Shark Cam:
Shark Cam

Earthquakes off the Oregon Coast

Possible Volcanic Earthquakes off the Oregon Coast, the week of April 12, 2008

From this article:
Unusual earthquakes measured off Oregon coast
By Jeff Barnard, Associated Press Writer.

I know this is not really an Aquarium or Pond related story, however since it involves the local ocean waters of Oregon and I find this interesting, I thought I would post this.

“GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Scientists listening to underwater microphones have detected an unusual swarm of earthquakes off central Oregon, something that often happens before a volcanic eruption — except there are no volcanoes in the area.

Scientists don't know exactly what the earthquakes mean, but they could be the result of molten rock rumbling away from the recognized earthquake faults off Oregon, said Robert Dziak, a geophysicist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oregon State University.

There have been more than 600 quakes over the past 10 days in a basin 150 miles southwest of Newport. The biggest was magnitude 5.4, and two others were more than magnitude 5.0, OSU reported.

On the hydrophones, the quakes sound like low thunder and are unlike anything scientists have heard in 17 years of listening, Dziak said. Some of the quakes have also been detected by earthquake instruments on land.

The hydrophones are left over from a network the Navy used to listen for submarines during the Cold War. They routinely detect passing ships, earthquakes on the ocean bottom and whales calling to one another.

Scientists hope to send out an OSU research ship to take water samples, looking for evidence that sediment has been stirred up and chemicals that would indicate magma is moving up through the Juan de Fuca Plate, Dziak said.

The quakes have not followed the typical pattern of a major shock followed by a series of diminishing aftershocks, and few have been strong enough to be felt on shore.

The Earth's crust is made up of plates that rest on molten rock, which are rubbing together. When the molten rock, or magma, erupts through the crust, it creates volcanoes.

That can happen in the middle of a plate. When the plates lurch against each other, they create earthquakes along the edges.

In this case, the Juan de Fuca Plate is a small piece of crust being crushed between the Pacific Plate and North America, Dziak said.”

Fish Virus of Oregon Coast

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia ; Deadly fish virus lurks off Oregon Coast

Updated 6/28/09

Initial Article From : Henry Miller; Statesman Journal (edited)
Expanded

“Officials in the Pacific Northwest are worried that a fish virus that causes fish kills in the Great Lakes could get here.
In a sense, it's already here and has been for quite a while. Viral hemorrhagic septicemia, better known as VHS, has been found in ocean fish (mostly salmonids) from Coos Bay north to the Gulf of Alaska.

The seagoing strain of the virus, which does not affect humans, has devastated herring schools in Puget Sound near Seattle and Prince William Sound. And an apparently new mutated freshwater strain has done the same in the Great Lakes, killing fish from minnows to muskies.
"What seems to be the case is these marine strains don't seem to come ashore very readily. And they've had plenty of opportunity with migrating salmon," said Jim Winton, the chief of the Fish Health Section of the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle."We occasionally find the marine strain of VHS in a spawning salmon, mostly coho," he added. "But it doesn't seem to have spread to freshwater species."
The species that VHS infects that are shared by the Great Lakes and the Pacific Northwest include yellow perch, smallmouth bass, walleye, bluegill, crappie, lake trout, steelhead and Chinook salmon.

It takes a week to 15 days of incubation in infected fish. Symptoms can range from no outward appearance to pale gills, bulging eyes, bleeding around the eyes, fins and sides of the head and behavioral changes such as swimming in a spiral.
Internally, the liver, spleen and intestines can be clotted with bleeding sores, the signs of which can include a bloated-looking, fluid-filled abdomen. It kills in days. And fish that survive become viral carriers for the rest of their lives. Stress is one factor that can trigger outbreaks, which is why hatchery, net-pen and fish-transport crowding can accelerate the spread.

Identification;

Fish (most commonly salmonids such as Salmon & Trout) that become infected will often be anorexic and show hemorrhaging of their internal organs, skin, and muscle; however they may be no external symptoms, while other fish show signs of infection that include bulging eyes, bloated abdomens, bruised-looking reddish tints to the eyes, skin, gills and fins. External signs may include dark coloration, “pop eye” (exophthalmia), pale or red-dotted gills, sunken eyes, and bleeding around the eye sockets and at base of fins

While still alive, fish with Viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) may appear listless or limp, hang just beneath the surface, or swim very abnormally, such as constant flashing circling due to the growth or turning movement (tropism) of the virus in the brain.

COMMENT

Septicemia is a symptom of different pathogens with basically the same result: a poisoning of the blood. It is common in aquariums where the usual cause is the very common anaerobic gram negative bacteria, Aeromonas. In aquariums and pond Septicemia is more common when conditions are poor with overabundance of decomposition and decay along with poor circulation, low oxygen levels and low GH/electrolyte levels

Reference:
Viral hemorrhagic septicemia; pdf

Oregon Aquarium, Rogue Beer

Rogue Beer has created a special series of bottles for The Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Three Arch Rock, the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife refuge. A portion of the proceeds goes to the programs.

Roy W. Lowe, project leader for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Oregon Coast NWR Complex, Brett Joyce, president of Rogue, and Dale Schmidt, president and CEO of the Oregon Coast Aquarium, toast recent donations from the Rogue Foundation to the respective agencies. (Photo by Elizabeth Chapman)

Here is an excerpt from the story:
Cheers to that: Rogue beer benefits causes
By Elizabeth Chapman of the News-Times


The Rogue Foundation donated $5,000 to Oregon Coast Aquarium and $1,500 to Three Arch Rock, the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife refuge, on Monday, Dec. 10 at the Brewer's on the Bay in South Beach. Rogue created a special series of bottles for both organizations and a portion of the proceeds goes to the programs.

The aquarium series includes: Sea Otter beer, spiny lump sucker T-shirts, Wolf Eel Ale, and Shark Tooth Ale. Three Arch Refuge has a specialty beer, the Puffin Pale Ale, which also provides the history of the refuge that was established during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency due to encouragement from conservationists William L. Finley and Herman Bohlman.

Roy W. Lowe, Project Leader for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Oregon Coast NWR Complex, said, "We're very appreciative that this gets the message out on the refuge," and he added the grant monies will help fund education programs for the refuge.


Dale Schmidt, president and CEO of Oregon Coast Aquarium, said through their partnership with Rogue over the years, the aquarium has received $17,000 which helps fund the new, changing exhibits.

Brett Joyce, president of Rogue, stated the products will be sold at various retail stores across Oregon.

Winter Pond Care

As winter approaches it is important to prepare you pond for this seasonal change in conditions (depending on your climate zone). In the warmer western areas of Oregon ice is not an issue as much as in the higher elevations of Eastern Oregon.

However leaves that have accumulated from the many deciduous trees that grow in many of the western valleys are a problem.
Leaves that fall to the bottom of the pond decompose adding to ammonia, lowering ph and KH to dangerous levels and sometimes releasing toxic Hydrogen Sulfide. The pond keeper needs to either cover the pond with netting or remove leaves before winter sets in.
Also as temperatures fall below 60 F (15 C) in the pond I feed every other day or less, depending on fish feeding habits. Below 50 F (10 C), I do not generally feed as fish become much less active as their metabolism slows down (it should also be noted that the protein content of the food should decrease as well).

Here is a recent news article from Salem Oregon about preparing for winter:
Owners of koi prepare the hardy, colorful fish and their ponds for winter

In regions where icing will occur it is important in winter to keep at least a small section of your pond open for proper exchange of gasses (O2, CO2), if water can still flow into the pond through a water or aeration device, that will work. A minimum depth of 24” will provide enough water space under the ice for fish to hibernate.
An aeration device or pump placed about midway from the surface/bottom that circulates upward generally will keep an area of the pond surface free of ice and allow proper gas exchange. In deep ponds over 5-6 feet (1.75 -2 meters), thermal layering, called thermoclines, may exist. This acts as sort of an “inversion layer” similar to how smog gets trapped in the air in Los Angeles. This traps CO2 and Hydrogen Sulfide near the bottom which is dangerous to fish and in this case you need to add water pumps or aeration devices at the bottom.

For more pond information including Winter Care as well as more resource links as well, please visit this site:

A Clear Pond; Pond Information

Shark washes up on Oregon Coast

Dolphin, shark, other 'oddities' wash up along Oregon Coast

By ANTONIA GIEDWOYN, kgw.com Staff

Last week’s stormy weather at the Oregon Coast led to some unusual finds on the beach over the weekend, Seaside Aquarium staff said Tuesday.

Beachcombers found a dolphin, a porpoise, a shark and a rare fish.

“All died recently, and thanks to enormous west winds, blew up onshore with the storms,” said aquarium spokeswoman Tiffany Boothe.

The long-beaked dolphin was the first dolphin that aquarium staff have ever seen wash up in the area, even though they are common to Oregon coastal waters, Boothe said. It measured about 5 and 1/2 feet long.


The salmon shark was only about 3 and 1/2 feet long and is a type of shark often mistaken for great whites, although great whites are larger by a foot or more in length.

Someone also reported finding a mola mola -- ocean sun fish -- which are rarely spotted on the north coast.

The washed-up porpoise measured about 2 and 1/2 feet long.

Another beachcomber, Terry Morse of Newport, found a bunch of odd jellyfish, some of which were still alive, he discovered, when he took them back home and put them in a petri dish to study them under a microscope. They began swimming again when put in sea water.

FOR THE FULLL STORY, please click on the link above.

COMMENTS:

Not much I can say here except for this is a sad but interesting story

Male fish gives birth at Oregon Aquarium

Unusual male fish gives birth at Oregon Aquarium

By TERESA BELL / kgw.com

SEASIDE, Oregon – At the Seaside Aquarium, dozens of fish have been born from what many would consider quite an unlikely source: a male fish.


A baby pipefish.
Pipefish are long, rounded creatures related to the sea horse, that have an unusual life process. The female pipefish has the eggs originally, but transfers them to the male. He fertilizes them, and then he is the one responsible during the remaining gestation period.

"We are not sure how long the baby pipefish will be on display," said Tiffany Boothe, an education specialist with the Seaside Aquarium. "The aquarium has had pipefish in the past give birth, but because of their size and fragility when born, we have had no luck keeping them alive. We are going to try a slightly new tactic, though we are not too optimistic that it will work. Because of this we also plan on releasing some of the babies into a local estuary."


The new tactics involve leaving them where they are this time, Boothe said. In the past, they've tried a variety of approaches to help these babies survive, mostly involving taking them out of the tank and putting them in another by themselves. They've tried variations on that theme, such as a tank with filtered water, without filtered water, and other combinations.

"Instead of putting them in another tank, we'll just do nothing," Boothe said. "We'll leave them in there, because that tank is a lot like the environment they come from, with its fauna and so on. It's also got raw water pumping in there, so there's lots of phytoplankton."


In natural habitat, pipefish live in shallow water among eelgrass, algae, and other types of vegetation in estuaries and bays.


Boothe said they're expecting even more babies. With the eggs of as many as three females involved, it could mean there are dozens more waiting to be born, all inside the male in various stages of gestation.


"Spawning for pipefish begins in May when the female pipefish passes her eggs to the male," Boothe said. "The courtship between the male and female tends to be an elaborately choreographed display, where female and male entangle themselves around each other over and over again. They look as if they are dancing. The male may receive eggs from two to three different females and can carry up to 225 eggs."


COMMENT: I have kept Pipefish, however I have never bred them (I have bred their cousins the seahorse). These are interesting although delicate fish to keep in an aquarium. I only recommend them in a non-competitive reef or nano-reef aquarium as most fish will out compete them for food and make them nervous. I have generally fed Brine Shrimp and Mysis Shrimp and have also kept them in tanks with a lot of hiding places including live rock and caulerpa algae.
"Marine Aquarium Basics" can provide more information and links to keeping these and other marine/saltwater fish.

Rare Ratfish, Oregon

Rare Ratfish found on Oregon Shores dies -

Associated Press and KGW.com Staff


SEASIDE, Ore. - A rare fish from the deep that had the Seaside Aquarium buzzing today has died.

The ratfish, described as both cute and bizarre, and usually lives too deep in the ocean to show up on land.

But a group of kids from Oregon City brought in a three-foot-long Spotted Ratfish over the weekend. They had found it on the southern cove area of Seaside -- still alive.

Aquarium spokeswoman Tiffany Boothe says the spotted ratfish's technical name is 'Hydrolagus colliei,' and is named ratfish for its rat-like appearance.

Scientists were not sure if the fish would survive the night. It had a sore on it's right fin that was making life difficult. Boothe said "at one point, it got stuck upside down and couldn't right itself."

On Monday Boothe said the fish didn't make it through the night. She said "the fact that he was already washed up on shore was not a good sign to begin with."

The aquarium was keeping the fish in a freezer in case a local school wanted to disect it to try and figure out how it died.

The ratfish exists between southeast Alaska and Baha, California. But sometimes it is found in shallower waters off the Oregon coast.

The aquarium says sometimes fishermen bring the ratfish when they accidentally catch them. But Boothe says it's really very rare they wash up on the beach.

Pet Food Recall Ingredient Found In Fish Feed

Pet Food Recall Ingredient Found In Fish Feed - SALEM, Ore. -- The Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that a chemical that caused thousands of pets to become sick has been found in fish feed in Oregon.

Melamine was found in fish feed at the Marion Forks Hatchery in Idanha, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The feed is used as a starter diet for juvenile salmon and trout, the ODFW said. The distributors of the feed had also sent it to the Willamette, Gnat Creek, Big Creek, Cole Rivers, Butte Falls and Leaburg hatcheries, according to the ODFW.

For the full article, please click above.




Comment:
Melamine is an organic base with the chemical formula C3H6N6. Melamine in wheat gluten added to mass-produced dog and cat foods has been associated with renal failure, which could be explained by the ammonia that may result from the digestion of the melamine.
The addition of "melamine scrap" into fish and livestock feed to give the false appearance of a higher level of protein (which is due to the urea contained there in), was an "open secret" in many parts of China, reporting that this melamine scrap was being produced at at least one plant processing coal into melamine.

Luckily many fish foods do not use much Wheat Gluten and obtain their Gluten from within the USA. The amounts of potential contamination of most foods is low as the better fish foods have Wheat Gluten very low on their list of ingredients (unlike many pet foods), that even with contamination, the risks are very low. In fact the main food I feed is Spirulina 20 which has a small amount of Wheat Gluten and I have a VERY healthy tank(s).

I recommend reading this article about fish nutrition and being more concerned with the VERY poor quality of ingredients that go into many of the popular fish foods such as TetraMin rather than the Melamine scare: Quality Fish Food (Proper Aquatic Nutrition); What ingredients are needed for proper fish nutrition, growth and health.


Carl

Steelhead will test the waters

Steelhead will test the waters -A half century after the dams, a reintroduction comes to fruition
By Kate Ramsayer / The Bulletin
Published: April 14. 2007 5:00AM PST

The pioneers now lie in trays in a hatchery north of Maupin, little more than a big eye and a yolk. But in a few weeks, once these summer steelhead eggs have hatched into tiny fry and used up the energy from the yolk, they'll be trucked to Whychus Creek downstream of Sisters and released. As they settle into the slow-moving side channels and backwaters of the creek, they will be the first steelhead to swim above Lake Billy Chinook since the Pelton Round Butte dam complex was constructed about half a century ago.

And they'll be the first test of whether more than a decade of planning by numerous agencies will enable ocean-going fish to migrate from and return to the Upper Deschutes Basin.

"We're certainly really, really excited about the reintroduction on all fronts," said Steven Marx, interim Deschutes District watershed manager with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

"The big thing is it's been 50 years since waters upstream from Pelton Dam have seen summer steelhead."




For the full article, please click above.

Comment: this an interesting article, well worth reading in its entirety.
Carl

Trout in the classroom

2 the Outdoors: Trout in the classroom -WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ore. - Recently, a special delivery was made to Banks Elementary School in Washington County. Leroy Schultz paid a visit to the school to deliver a 28-gallon aquarium.

Schultz is part of a volunteer army that delivers this unique equipment that enables youngsters to learn about their environment.

The large tank will soon be a new home for 600 trout eggs in a second-grade classroom at the school.

The fish eggs are donated to the "Trout in the Classroom" program by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The eggs come from the Roaring River Hatchery in Linn County.

The hatchery produces 70 percent of Oregon's rainbow trout. Huge female trout are live-spawned and their surplus eggs are donated to the Northwest Steelheaders for the classroom program.

In addition to the donations of tanks, which are worth $1,000 each, volunteers from the Steelheaders gather in February to collect the many packets of 600 eggs. Each volunteer delivers the trout eggs to a different classroom.

According to NWS member Ben Rand, the project spreads an important message: "What it takes to raise fish, how we should appreciate the fish. Hopefully, a little bit of (an) ecology lesson too. I am sure the youngsters are excited about raising fish."

Schultz made his delivery to Chris McOmie's second-grade classroom at the Banks school. Her students were very excited about the prospect of raising fish.



For the full article (including a video), please click above.

Comments: Not much more to say than cool story and idea!