Chalk Cliffs Rearing Unit

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Chalk Cliffs Rearing Unit
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Location in Colorado
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Location in United States
General information
Address22605 CR 287
Town or city Nathrop, Colorado
Coordinates 38°42′44″N106°14′07″W / 38.712194°N 106.235361°W / 38.712194; -106.235361 Coordinates: 38°42′44″N106°14′07″W / 38.712194°N 106.235361°W / 38.712194; -106.235361
Inaugurated1950

The Chalk Cliffs Rearing Unit is a Colorado Parks and Wildlife cold water fish production facility located near Arkansas River and Chalk Creek in Chaffee County, Colorado. Hatchery staff works to support the raising of approximately 700,000 catchable, ten-inch rainbow trout annually. The hatchery stocks fish along the Front Range from Loveland to the New Mexico border, and east almost to the Kansas border.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Colorado Parks and Wildlife manages the state parks system and the wildlife of the U.S. State of Colorado. The division currently manages the 41 state parks and 307 wildlife areas of Colorado.

Fish hatchery place for artificial breeding, hatching and rearing through the early life stages of fish

A fish hatchery is a place for artificial breeding, hatching, and rearing through the early life stages of animals—finfish and shellfish in particular. Hatcheries produce larval and juvenile fish, shellfish, and crustaceans, primarily to support the aquaculture industry where they are transferred to on-growing systems, such as fish farms, to reach harvest size. Some species that are commonly raised in hatcheries include Pacific oysters, shrimp, Indian prawns, salmon, tilapia and scallops. The value of global aquaculture production is estimated to be US$98.4 billion in 2008 with China significantly dominating the market; however, the value of aquaculture hatchery and nursery production has yet to be estimated. Additional hatchery production for small-scale domestic uses, which is particularly prevalent in South-East Asia or for conservation programmes, has also yet to be quantified.

Arkansas River major tributary of the Mississippi River, United States

The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas River Valley, where the headwaters derive from the snowpack in the Sawatch and Mosquito mountain ranges. It then flows east into the Midwest via Kansas, and finally into the South through Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Contents

History

Chalk Cliffs was inaugurated in 1950. [1]

In 1986, the facility experienced a widespread death among fingerling trout. This was thought to be a result of using creek water. Water quality sampling by the Department of Public Health and the Environment found that the cause was high amounts of zinc and cadmium, from the Mary Murphy Mine upstream. [2] In 1990, Chalk Creek was chosen for cleanup through the Division of Minerals and Geology. This was necessary as the levels were impacting fish habitats and water quality degradation in the Arkansas River. Yet, their clean up attempts were unsuccessful. [2]

Zinc Chemical element with atomic number 30

Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a blue-silvery appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. In some respects zinc is chemically similar to magnesium: both elements exhibit only one normal oxidation state (+2), and the Zn2+ and Mg2+ ions are of similar size. Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in Earth's crust and has five stable isotopes. The most common zinc ore is sphalerite (zinc blende), a zinc sulfide mineral. The largest workable lodes are in Australia, Asia, and the United States. Zinc is refined by froth flotation of the ore, roasting, and final extraction using electricity (electrowinning).

Cadmium Chemical element with atomic number 48

Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds, and like mercury, it has a lower melting point than the transition metals in groups 3 through 11. Cadmium and its congeners in group 12 are often not considered transition metals, in that they do not have partly filled d or f electron shells in the elemental or common oxidation states. The average concentration of cadmium in Earth's crust is between 0.1 and 0.5 parts per million (ppm). It was discovered in 1817 simultaneously by Stromeyer and Hermann, both in Germany, as an impurity in zinc carbonate.

Mary Murphy Mine human settlement in Colorado, United States of America

The Mary Murphy Mine was the principal gold mine of the Chalk Creek mining district of Chaffee County, Colorado, United States, near St. Elmo, Colorado. The Mary Murphy Mine operated continuously from 1870 to 1925, and produced 220 thousand ounces of gold, worth $4.4 million then, plus considerable silver, lead, and zinc. There were two aerial tramways connecting the mine to Romley, Colorado and the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad.

Mission

An overarching mission among the hatchery staff is educating the public. The facilities provide fish for stock in many areas which supports angling recreation. The facility offers educational materials and tours.

Fish species

The Chalk Cliffs Rearing Unit raises catchable rainbow trout, cutthroat trout. [3] They obtain their water source from a nearby creek. [4]

Rainbow trout species of trout

The rainbow trout is a trout and species of salmonid native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout(O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to fresh water to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean. Freshwater forms that have been introduced into the Great Lakes and migrate into tributaries to spawn are also called steelhead.

Cutthroat trout species of fish

The cutthroat trout(Oncorhynchus clarkii) is a fish species of the family Salmonidae native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains, and Great Basin in North America. As a member of the genus Oncorhynchus, it is one of the Pacific trout, a group that includes the widely distributed rainbow trout. Cutthroat trout are popular gamefish, especially among anglers who enjoy fly fishing. The common name "cutthroat" refers to the distinctive red coloration on the underside of the lower jaw. The specific name clarkii was given to honor explorer William Clark, coleader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Related Research Articles

Chalk Creek river in the United States of America

Chalk Creek is a 27.3-mile-long (43.9 km) river flowing east from the Collegiate Peaks mountain range in Chaffee County, Colorado. Mount Antero borders the southern side of the river, while Mount Princeton borders the northern side. The headwaters of the river are located at the Continental Divide. The river empties into the Arkansas River at the town of Nathrop, Colorado.

Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery is a National Fish Hatchery located just below Wolf Creek Dam in Russell County, Kentucky. The hatchery is a federal hatchery and is a part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Quartz Creek (Gunnison County, Colorado) river in the United States of America

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Mt. Shavano Hatchery

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Pitkin Hatchery

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Pueblo Hatchery

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Rifle Falls Fish Hatchery

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Roaring Judy Hatchery

The Roaring Judy Hatchery is a Colorado Parks and Wildlife cold water fish production facility located on East River at the base of Flat Top mountain in Gunnison County. It home to the largest known kokanee salmon run in Colorado.

Wray Fish Hatchery

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References

  1. ↑ Wiltzius, William. "Fish Culture and Stocking in Colorado, 1872-1978" (PDF). Native Fish Lab. Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  2. 1 2 Historic Hardrock Mining: The West's Toxic Legacy : the Critical Link Between Water Quality and Abandoned Mine Sites. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8. 1995. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  3. ↑ "Fish Hatcheries". Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  4. ↑ Halverson, Anders (2010). An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World. Yale University Press. ISBN   9780300166866 . Retrieved 1 May 2019.
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