KSU students’ top-shelf effort rescues small batch of fish near barrels at Buffalo Trace

Bourbon and biology mix in this rare environmental recovery effort by Kentucky college students who relocated more than a dozen fish species trapped by floodwaters at a historic distillery.

About a dozen Kentucky State University Aquaculture Program students volunteered to remove and relocate hundreds of pounds of fish stranded by a flood in a pond on the grounds of Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort. | Kentucky State University Aquaculture Program photo

April 24, Frankfort, KY – It wasn’t quite as easy as catching fish in a barrel, but some Kentucky college students this week caught – and safely relocated – hundreds of pounds of fish stranded in a pond near the bourbon barrels at Buffalo Trace Distillery. 

A historic Kentucky River flood in early April had trapped the fish – more than a dozen different species – in a usually-dry storm-water-collection basin on the distillery’s grounds, about a quarter-mile from the river. About a dozen Kentucky State University Aquaculture Program students volunteered to seine the fish out of the pond, to be returned to the river.  

Rescuing the small batch of fish was a top-shelf show of community spirit, Buffalo Trace said in a statement on its Facebook page, offering a “huge thanks” to the “amazing” KSU students who “suited up and waded in to rescue the stranded fish.”

“This unexpected moment of teamwork, resilience, and care for the local ecosystem reminded us that the spirit of Buffalo Trace goes far beyond bourbon,” the distillery said further.

KSU said the project was pretty neat.

“We’re grateful for the opportunity to support our Frankfort community during a time of need,” KSU said in a comment posted to Buffalo Trace’s Facebook page. “Moments like these remind us that service, compassion, and collaboration are at the heart of who we are. Thank you to Buffalo Trace for sharing this special day — we’re proud to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Onward and upward.”

Finding a pond on its property “teeming with fish” after the flood water receded was “pretty incredible,” Buffalo Trace said. Among the dozen-plus species stranded, the distillery noted, was “an ironically fitting Bigmouth Buffalo.” The distillery contacted the KSU Aquaculture Program seeking assistance.

“Buffalo Trace reached out the Aquaculture program to save these fish and we answered!” the KSU Aquaculture Program said in a statement in a Reel video posted to its Facebook page.

Among the volunteers who helped seine and move the fish were some Buffalo Trace employees, including ever-popular Chief Tour Guide Freddie Johnson, a 2018 Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame inductee. | Kentucky State University Aquaculture Program photo

Among the volunteers who helped seine and move the fish were some Buffalo Trace employees, including Cole Daleiden and ever-popular Chief Tour Guide Freddie Johnson, a 2018 Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame inductee. Daleiden is a part-time tour guide at the distillery and a KSU Aquaculture student.

“My passion for fisheries and the bourbon industry is unwavering. …” Daleiden told a LEX-18 News reporter. “I was very excited when the best of both worlds here in Frankfort kind of aligned.”

Fish getting trapped in inundated low-lying areas following a flood is “pretty rare,” said Dr. Andrew Ray, one of Daleiden's professors. He said what happened recently at Buffalo Trace was the “first I've really heard of it.”

Removal and relocation of the fish was required to keep them alive, Ray said. “The water was receding in that pond, the temperature was increasing in the pond, and the dissolved oxygen was going down,” he explained in LEX-18’s news report. “So these are things we can measure and quantify and it was getting more risky for the fish. So we had to get it done.”

Before being returned to the river, the rescued fish spent some time in tanks and ponds at KSU. “We had the resources here to handle it,” Ray said. “It was very smooth. It was a two-step process.”

“Buffalo Trace is our neighbor and we want to be good neighbors,” Ray said further. “We want to help out any way we can. I think everybody at that time around the flooding was kind of worried about their neighbors.”

About a dozen Kentucky State University Aquaculture Program students volunteered to remove and relocate hundreds of pounds of fish stranded by a flood in a pond on the grounds of Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort | Kentucky State University Aquaculture Program photo

Historic, catastrophic flooding
Submerged roads, building and other facilities caused Buffalo Trace Distillery – and other Frankfort businesses – to close temporarily during and after the flood. 

ChatGPT, aggregating published reports from the National Weather Service, WUOT, Wikipedia & WEKU, summarized the Kentucky River flood of April 2025 as a “catastrophic event that caused widespread devastation across central and eastern Kentucky.” 

“Persistent heavy rainfall led to historic river crests, with the Kentucky River at Frankfort reaching 48.39 feet, just shy of the 1978 record,” the ChatGPT summary continues. “The flooding resulted in significant property damage, with homes submerged and businesses in downtown Frankfort overwhelmed. …The severe weather also led to at least 14 fatalities in Kentucky, including a child swept away by floodwaters in Frankfort.”