Yeti Steps Up for Maine's Rare Arctic Charr - Again!

Our friends at Yeti just stepped up again and donated several new pieces of equipment to the ongoing University of Maine "Floods Pond Arctic Charr Study." 

With just 12 native populations left in the contiguous United States (all of which are in Maine), of which two are recovering from recent and risky reclamation's and one is crashing due to invasive smelts, this project is critically important.

Closed to fishing and other forms of recreation, and protected from development as a public water supply, Floods Pond is the only place we can monitor a healthy rare Arctic charr population without having to sort through the impacts of man.  It is the best way to identify environmental factors that could imperil charr there and elsewhere.    

Like most academic science programs of the sort, the UMaine Arctic charr study is underfunded and the equipment being used was old, outdated, by no means "best in class," and in some cases in disrepair. 

The buckets used to transfer fish from the lake to the lab had metal handles that had long lost their plastic grips.  The holding and recovery tanks were not insulated and required ice to prevent stressing the fish any more than necessary.  They were also too shallow and fish were jumping out.  And the anesthetizing tank was a farm bucket.   

Since we started working with Yeti, we have been able to replace the old buckets with two LoadOut Buckets (courtesy of Rippled Waters), the farm bucket with a Yeti Tank 85 and cover, and the two holding tanks and recovery tank with two Tundra 250 coolers (Tank, cover and Tundra's courtesy of Yeti.)  

This new equipment represents close to $2,200 worth of inventory.   The items will help both the research staff (as well as volunteers) and the fish. 

The buckets will be easier and more comfortable to carry, the heavily insulated coolers will eliminate the need for ice, or at least greatly reduce it, while keeping the fish safe and less stressed due to the lids, and the tank will be easier to move around, and like the coolers, help keep the anesthetizing solution cold and stable.  

This is what you call "stepping up", and being a good corporate citizen.  Kudos to Yeti for working with a small non-profit and a state college to provide "best in class" equipment for an important rare native fish project that the college could not afford, and we could not easily fund.  Please support Yeti as they have supported us and the fish.

Dr. Michael Kinnison, UMaine Professor and Maine NFC Advisory Council Member, and Bradley Erdman, UMaine PHD candidate and Maine NFC Board Member.