Photo courtesy of Fish Pro, Inc.

The Interstate Stream Commission and the City of Albuquerque formally opened the $1.7 million silvery minnow refugium, a state-of-the-art facility for rearing, breeding, and researching the minnow in a semi-natural setting. The Commission believes one of the keys to short-term survival and long-term recovery of the minnow is construction and operation of one or more naturalized refugia. The refugium is designed to meet the life requirements of the silvery minnow. The indoor portion is similar to a conventional hatchery. It serves as the primary handling and distribution facility for hatching eggs collected in the Rio Grande during the spawning period and for initial rearing of fish hatched from eggs. The outdoor portion of the refugium consists of an artificial off-channel stream providing semi-natural spawning and rearing habitat. Unlike a conventional hatchery, the outdoor portion replicates selected natural habitat conditions, thus providing research opportunities on the fish throughout its life and increasing the potential of successful re-introductions of the fish into the wild.