Conservation Fisheries, Inc.

J.R. Shute and Patrick Rakes are co-directors of Conservation Fisheries, Inc., located in Knoxville, Tennessee. They monitor populations of rare fish located in the Southeastern United States and develop ways to breed these fish in captivity.

A visitor to Conservation Fisheries will find several rooms full of tanks designed to be as much like the fishes' natural environment as impossible. J.R. and Patrick pay attention to every detail, from the way the water flows through the tanks to the type of rocks on the tank bottom.

Humans have polluted or altered many of the streams and rivers in which these fish used to live. Captive breeding is a practical way for scientists to restore rare fish to streams or rivers. For a restoration effort to be successful, scientists need to release a lot of fish--many more than the few remaining wild fish can produce.

Photograph by J.R. Shute