10/2011: Congrats to Brian Schmidt  (Cheryl's cousin) for being awarded the Nobel prize in Astronomy (Physics).

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Ornamental Goldfish Ride on Last Space Shuttle Mission, July 2011.

On July 8th, 2011, the Space Shuttle Atlantis took off on its final mission to space, Flight STS-135, a 12 day mission. Aboard the shuttle were Ornamental Goldfish eggs. The purpose was to compare development of eggs in microgravity (a weightless environment) to eggs developed on the ground, in Earth’s normal gravity.

This project was a part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education. Mrs. Kori Milroy and her science class from Skinner West Classical, Fine Arts, & Technology School in Chicago, Illinois, received a grant from the Motorola Solutions Foundation to participate in the program, which gives them an experiment slot in a microgravity research laboratory flying on the final flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis. To choose which experiment would go to space, students participated in a microgravity experiment design competition. The winning experiment was chosen by judges from among 77 experiment proposals.

Kori Milroy contacted central Florida business Blackwater Creek Koi Farms, Inc. to help with the project.  President Joe Pawlak, of Blackwater Creek, has been involved with school based aquaculture systems for over 20 years and was very excited to help make the project a success. “Preparation is the key,” said Mr. Pawlak. A lot of science is utilized to prepare and submit these eggs for the mission. Male and female shubunkin goldfish have been specially selected and prepared for the event. They were placed in a high tech holding and breeding rack supplied by Apopka Florida’s Aquatic Habitats, Inc. There they were fed a specialized high nutrient food. Males and females were then given an injection of hormones to trigger spawning (egg laying and fertilization) at a precise time. After the eggs were fertilized and given time to start to mature, they were inspected under a microscope and cleaned to ensure the best possible condition for their space flight.

When asked why a particular type of goldfish was chosen, Mr Pawlak commented, “We have been working on a new variety of Shubunkin goldfish called the “Sanke Gold” that is red, white, and blue. We thought that being the last mission and near the time of our country’s birthday, it would be most fitting.” This is not the first time Joe has been involved with a fish in space project. In 1998, while working at Aquatic Eco Systems in Apopka Florida, he worked closely with members of the NASA AMES Research Center developing equipment for a Japanese Medaka fish experiment on STS-95, when John Glenn returned to space.

Mr. Pawlak also commented that “Its great to see a favorite past time of so many (fish keeping) be related to the final mission of one of Americas truly spectacular achievements… the NASA Space Shuttle Program.”  Florida is home to the nation’s largest ornamental tropical fish industry, producing 95% of the tropical ornamental fish raised in the United States. At peak, the farm gate value (price received at farm level) was 57 million dollars. Currently there are approximately 120 farms mainly located in the Tampa area and south. To gain perspective, the number one commodity at Tampa Airport is tropical fish, with 10,000 to 20,000 boxes of fish being shipped every day.

More Details below:

Kori Milroy is a Science teacher at The Skinner West Classical, Fine Arts, & Technology School in Chicago, Illinois.  Students Eric Chen and Erin Fitzgerald are in charge of overseeing and reporting results and experiences obtained by the project to science classes throughout the country.

Blackwater Creek Koi Farms, Inc is a ornamental Koi and Goldfish producer with its main office located in Eustis, Florida. They produce and ship Koi and Goldfish to retail stores throughout the world, year round.  A related company Aquatic Nutrition Inc develops and packages specialty ornamental aquatic diets is also located in Eustis Florida www.koisale.com

Aquatic Habitats, Inc is a supplier of aquatic biomedical research systems designed to hold fish and frogs for studies varying from genetic, cancer, and toxicology research. Systems containing up to 3700 small aquariums are in place at universities and private facilities around the world.

The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (http://ssep.ncesse.org/) is undertaken by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE; http://ncesse.org), a project of the 501(c)(3) Tides Center, in partnership with NanoRacks, LLC.  This on-orbit educational research opportunity is enabled through NanoRacks LLC, which is working in partnership with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.

Blackwater Creek Goldfish were sent on the last space space shuttle mission and now are on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum.

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We are a registered aquaculture facility

We were inspected and approved to become registered with APHIS to export our fish to Europe!

Spawning has begun!

It's our first spawn of the year. We decided to start off with sanke, and are focusing on butterfly koi at the moment. This year looks to be very exciting for us.

Central Florida Koi Show

As you know our biggest show is coming up here very shortly, and Blackwater always goes all out every year. Our theme this year is Blacktie & Butterfly, and if you are interested in more information please visit our show page.We are also having a special on Sunday,the 9th, after the show. We will be offering fish wholesale to a buyer. Contact us for more information.

 

We are Hiring

We are looking for energetic people to assist in day to day operations at our northwestern farms. Hard work, moderate pay and lots and lots of koi. Call Joe directly for details. 352.217.5518

 

Blackwater Creek is proud to sponsor Mark Dimitroff and Billy Ethridge in their racing careers. Mark Dimitroff, number 20, is a top rated driver in the ARCHA series and you can see him compete on the speed channel frequently. He is passionate about racing and likes koi too! Climbing the ranks fast - lettered up with the Blackwater Creek logo - Mark truly has the fastest fish in America on four wheels.

Billy Ethridge races his Suzuki Superbike (yep, the big boys size) with Team Xtreme/Maxxis, sponsored in part by Blackwater Creek. At last years competition, both Billy and Mark Crozier rode on Team #1, the Maxxis team, which competed in the Heavyweight Superstock Class. Team #1 took sixth place overall and third in its class. The second team, competing in the Heavyweight Superbike Class, finished first in its class and seventh overall. Jeff Walker and Mark Edwards rode for Maxxis on Team #2.

Through the stong, unified effort of all these riders, Team Xtreme-Maxxis entered the final race second in its class and eighth overall in the series. The final race was held October 15, 2006 in Braselton, Georgia at the Road Atlanta Raceway. Maxxis congratulates Crozier, Edwards, Ethridge, and Walker on a fine performance.

Blackwater Creek cheers him on and looks forward to another exciting year!

There is a lot of difference between raising some koi and raising a lot of good koi. Surrounding ourselves with experts has helped us jump up to the next step in production. Blackwater is pround to have two new experts on staff.

Mr. Atsushi Suda, of Niigata Japan, brings with him decades of koi production technology from the heart of the koi world. Mr. Suda produces fish on one of the larger farms in Japan and is considered one of the forefathers of koi in the area due to his involvement in helping others start local koi farms.

His specialties include: Gin Rin Showa, Yamabuki, Kin Showa, Hajiro, Sanke, Showa and the occasional Koromo. We welcome him and his family into ours and look forward to great times ahead.

 

In a decision to protect Blackwater Creek Koi Farms assets - its customers and it's broodstock - we have decided to close our doors to any outside fish. We have been tested for the koi virus numerous times and results have come back negative. In order to ensure we stay this way, we have decided not to buy and sell fish. We feel our imported broodstock, our facilities and our expert staff will allow the production of fish you expect and deserve. We are not sure where this disease originated from, but we are doing all we can to keep it out of our farms.