This week the AEL is getting out of the lab for a while to take a trip out to the Hebron State Fish Hatchery. PhD Student Cory Becher is conducting an experiment on the predation of largemouth bass on channel catfish, and all hands are on board to help. The experiment is looking into what effect largemouth bass have on juvenille catfish populations and how that effect changes when other prey, such as bluegill and goldfish, are available. The goal is to see if predation has a significant enough impact on recruitment to justify rearing the catfish in fisheries for an additional year. The experiment uses sixteen ponds at the Hebron State Fish Hatchery, and we at the Aquatic Ecology Lab are very thankful for the Inland Fisheries Research Unit of ODNR, Division of Wildlife for their help on this project!