Release Information

Release of the Northern Redbelly Dace

Since it was declared an endangered species of greatest conservation need, there has been several releases of Northern Redbelly Dace into suitable habitat along the Front Range. There are at least two additional releases planned for the summer of 2021.

Northern Redbelly Dace Release 2021: Webster Pond

This release of Northern Redbelly Dace into Webster Pond has been two years in the making. When the Northern Redbelly Dace Recovery Project was first launched in 2020, the Ocean First Institute had coordinated with Boulder County Parks and Open Space to release the endangered fish into Webster Pond at Pella Crossing in Longmont, Colorado. The year of 2020 had other plans in store, and the Northern Redbelly Dace Recovery Project was forced to pivot.

Over the summer of 2021 the release into Webster continued to be the goal. Students of the SVVSD monitored water quality at the site throughout the year. Boulder County Parks and Open Space continued the restoration efforts at Webster Pond to conditions that are suitable for the native minnow population.

Northern Redbelly Dace Release of 2020: Rooney Pond

Like many of us in 2020, the endangered Northern Redbelly Dace was in a basement, with nowhere to go until a community member went above and beyond to help.

In the midst of March (minnow) Madness, COVID-19 entered the story of Northern Redbelly Dace Recovery. The project faced many obstacles as in-person efforts became much more difficult. Eventually, Dr. Mikki Mcomb-Kobza of Ocean First Institute, decided to bring the fish tanks home to manage their daily care.

Webster Pond had previously been a stocked game-fish pond, which thanks to help by the community was converted to a fish nursery. The goal of the restoration was to recover the pond to a natural state with native vegetation that would encourage native aquatic species to flourish. As field work became a logistical nightmare during the COVID-19 pandemic, the collaborative restoration of Webster Pond was paused for the foreseeable future.

That's when the Rooney family graciously offered to allow the release to proceed in a pond on their property. The Northern Redbelly Dace Recovery Project is deeply thankful to the Rooney's for stepping up to give our native fish friends a home when they had nowhere else to go.

How is an aquatic species released into the wild?

In the planning process of any species recovery project the research must be done to ensure proper approval is given for the project to proceed. In the United States, unauthorized release of animals is illegal in every state. In Colorado, one needs special permits to own or raise wildlife of any kind. The Northern Redbelly Dace Project is not only authorized through state and local authority but empowered by these partners. The releases under this project are made possible by the approval of Colorado Parks and Wildlife as well as Boulder County Parks and Open Space.

It's important to know species introduction, even in regards to native species, can have significant environmental impacts if not done properly. Historic ranges of habitats have shifted, and what was once an ideal habitat may no longer serve the same function. It is equally important to know about the intended release site conditions, as it is to know about the species itself. There are many steps that must be carefully coordinated to achieve the ideal timeline for fish to successfully and sustainably be released into the wild.

It starts with obtaining mature adults. With an endangered species, this is not always easy. Luckily in the state of Colorado, we have the J. W. Mumma Native Aquatic Species Restoration Facility, a hatchery operated by Colorado Parks and Wildlife near the town of Alamosa. The hatchery is dedicated to protecting and restoring endangered aquatic species native to Colorado, including the Northern Redbelly Dace.

The adult fish obtained are kept in tanks that mimic their natural environmental conditions by regulating photoperiod and temperature and providing natural structures in the tank. As summer arrives, the water temperature and daylight hours signal to the fish it is breeding time. Egg-catching mats are placed and collected frequently over the summer spawning season and hatched in special fry tanks away from adults.

When raising a species for reintroduction, the release site needs to be selected based on habitat quality rating for the specific species as well as consider other conditions like presence of predator species. It should be monitored over several months to a year to ensure conditions are suitable throughout yearly fluctuations of water flow, water quality, and food availability to sustain the target species.

After the proper authority channels approve the site, restoration activity may commence if needed. Restoration can include native vegetation planting, invasive species removal, and improving watershed connectivity for aquatic species to migrate. In the case of Webster Pond, volunteers across the community came together, led by Boulder County Parks and Open Space, to plant nearly 20,000 individual young plants to build a native fish nursery habitat. Boulder County Parks and Open Space has since carefully maintained the restoration activity in preparation for reintroduction.

One month prior to release, a random sample of the individuals are collected by Colorado Parks and Wildlife for disease testing. This is a step taken to ensure wild fish populations and their habitats are protected from the introduction of pathogens that could wipe out other endangered aquatic species. If the sample comes up clean for aquatic species diseases, the release will be cleared for a release under CPW standards.

Finally, the big day comes for the fish to be released. The Northern Redbelly Dace Recovery Project begins with the day with a morning release to give our fish as many daylight hours as possible to adjust to their new home. The dace are brought to the site in bags that are placed in the water at to acclimate to the temperature until they are finally ready to roam their new home.

But that isn't the end of the story, it is necessary to monitor the released population in order to determine their success over time. Natural systems are highly complex and require long-term data to develop a deeper understanding. The Northern Redbelly Dace Recovery Project continues to monitor previous release sites to determine quality of the habitat as well as stable presence of the species at the site. We are happy to report the population at the 2020 release site has survived successfully overwinter, a crucial and promising step toward planning the 2021 release in late August.

Successfully releasing a species into the wild takes intense multi-level collaboration alongside many uncontrollable natural factors. This project has taught everyone involved that the entire process will have surprises and require planning but also flexibility, readjustments, and refinement in order to recover species of concern.