HATCHERY (cont.)

have tanks where we can keep and monitor our broodstock safely and get a better start on the next year’s spawning process and nursery pond production,” Miller said. “Forage production at our hatcheries is relatively new, but with the growing number of invasive species that are in many waters, raising them at the hatchery is really the only way to do it and maintain confidence we aren’t contributing to any movement of diseases or aquatic nuisance species.”

The new facility is the second phase of improvements the hatchery staff have been engaged in during the last several years to improve the facility. The first phase included renovation of many hatchery ponds, dividing larger ponds into smaller, more efficient hatchery facilities.

“When those large ponds were built, the thinking was bigger might be better,” Miller said. “But over the years, our techniques have improved and we’ve discovered that we could raise more and healthier fish in smaller ponds with more usable shoreline area. The smaller ponds also require less equipment to harvest the fish and are easier to adjust if dissolved oxygen and other water quality indicators are poor.”

The pond renovation phase is a point of pride with Miller and his staff. They were able to accomplish millions of dollars worth of work with relatively little capital expense. Instead of contracting out the construction, hatchery crews rolled up their sleeves and got the job done in addition to their normal duties.

“The main piece of equipment we needed to buy was a large tractor and dirt pan to help do the dirt work,” Miller said. “Chad Wicker, the assistant hatchery manager, had experience building ponds before coming to the AGFC, so he was the boots on the ground guy with the staff to make it happen. He and other hatchery crew members worked many long hours to transform the large ponds, adding 17 new hatchery ponds in the same space.

And they did it all without missing any fish production goals.”

Miller says he’s also thankful to the rest of the Fisheries Division for working with some lean budgets and doing without some equipment needs while the renovation was underway.

“We saw a lot of support from other hatcheries, fisheries management and administration to get us the supplies and funds we needed to complete phase one,” Miller said. “A lot of people across the state made sacrifices to upgrade those ponds, but it was accomplished with very little expenses outside of the division’s normal operating funds.”

The next phases of the renovation will require more capital expenditures to make a reality.

“We’re meeting with engineers this month to draw up the plans and get everything on paper, but this won’t be an inexpensive fix,” Miller said. “But with the amount of fish spawned and produced, Hogan is worth the effort.”

Miller says he also plans to talk with engineers to begin preliminary work on how the third and final phase of the renovation will take shape. That phase includes a way to recycle the water used at the hatchery to make the most use of the resources available.

“Right now, we have to pump all of our water from wells to fill ponds and provide for the mobile aquariums,” Miller said. “When we release it for harvesting ponds, that water is lost. So we want to build a tailwater recovery system to reuse what we can and save the amount of water we are using in the fish-culturing process.”