Midwest Fisheries Center
Plan Your Visit
Lobby
Our lobby features interpretive panels about the history of the Midwest Fisheries Center and the work we do. The lobby also features a 720 gallon tank with fish native to Wisconsin. The lobby is open to visitors Monday - Friday, except federal holidays: 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Tours
Tours can be scheduled by members of the public, groups, or even as a conference field trip site. We offer tours of the Midwest Fisheries Center, featuring a 40-minute overview of our mission and work, a walkthrough of the Whitney Genetics Labs and our Fish Health Center, and a glimpse of the boats and equipment used by field biologists. There is an option to include a field portion of the tour which includes an electrofishing demonstration where visitors can see the incredible fish of the Mississippi River up close. Our laboratories and other work areas are not open for drop-in tours so we encourage visitors to email or call to pre-arrange a tour.
Contact Cristina Dahl at cristina_dahl@fws.gov or 608-514-1337 for a tour.
Featured Species
Get Involved
Offices within the Midwest Fisheries Center
Get Involved
The Midwest Fisheries Center offers environmental education activities for community groups and schools. In addition, the center can lend fishing poles to local community groups. Every July, the center co-sponsors Youth Outdoor Fest in La Crosse, Wisconsin in partnership with the La Crosse Parks, Recreation, and Forestry department. The Center also allows job shadows and offers limited volunteer opportunities.
Work with Us
Our dedicated employees perform a wide range of jobs at national wildlife refuges and national fish hatcheries and with public, tribal and private partners.
We hope you’ll join us in advancing our mission of working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.
Services
About
The Midwest Fisheries Center is the region’s Fish Technology Center for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Fish Technology Centers provide leadership in science-based management of trust aquatic resources through applied research and the development of new concepts, strategies and techniques to solve problems in aquatic resource conservation. Within the Midwest Fisheries Center the La Crosse Fish Health Center, Whitney Genetics Lab, Data Branch, and the La Crosse Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office are housed to meet this mission.
Staff at the Midwest Fisheries Center are involved in a number of applied research, fisheries management, and monitoring projects. These include aquatic animal pathogen diagnostics and health monitoring, invasive carp environmental DNA early detection and monitoring, metabarcoding, native aquatic species genetics projects, GIS and acoustic telemetry projects, and management of native fish, mussels and invasive carp conducted in partnership with state natural resource agencies, tribes, universities and other federal partners including the U. S. Geological Survey and U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.
