BURLINGTON – The State Fish Hatchery in Burlington is 100 this year.
In September, during National Fishing and Hunting week, there will be a celebration at the hatchery to mark the anniversary.
Built to keep the tradition of trout fishing alive in New England, the hatchery, which is part of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, is a breeding ground for a number of species of trout, primarily brook, brown and rainbow, Supervising Fisheries Biologist Tom Chairvolotti said. Kokanee Salmon are also raised there.
The fish are released into Connecticut waterbodies.
In the early 1900s, brook trout populations were becoming decimated due to habitat degradation as streams became polluted, he said. “The more civilization takes over the streams here, the landscape changes. Water temperatures might go up slightly; water quality might go down.”
While there are some Connecticut streams that produce wild brook trout, most of the rivers and streams in Connecticut do not support wild trout populations, Chairvolotti said. They are still suitable to temporarily support adult populations and provide a place for people to catch fish.
Cold water fish, trout flourish in temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees and water here in the southern end of New England often gets too warm in the summer months, he said. For a stream to have a self-sustaining wild population it must have high quality water and habitat suitable for all age classes of fish. That, according to Chairvolotti, is difficult to find in small Connecticut streams.
Stocking starts in mid-February and stretches through the middle of May with the goal of running three trucks of fish per day out of the hatchery, Chairvolotti said. There is also stocking ahead of July 4 and on June 30, hatchery staff packed fish into trucks and released them in the Farmington River, in Riverton.
More stocking takes place in the fall. The push to do so, Chairvolotti pins primarily on climate change and weather staying warmer longer, which equates to fishermen enjoying their sport deeper into the season.
The hatchery produces approximately 100,000 trout annually, Chairvolotti noted. All together there are three hatcheries that stock about 500,000 trout in rivers and lakes throughout the state, including the Naugatuck and Farmington Rivers.
The 4,000-square foot building on the hatchery grounds was once a dance hall at a park in Farmington before it was disassembled in 1923, moved and reconstructed on the hatchery property, Burlington Town Historian Scott Norton said.
Housed inside the long rectangular building are 18 small tanks for baby fish fed by underground artesian wells. The site was selected for the hatchery due to the existence of the wells, which were found after a search for properties with adequate water for breeding fish.
Outside on the grounds are 12 rectangular raceways, 20 circular concrete tanks and four small dirt bottom pools.
In the hatchery’s first year of operation, 600,000 brook trout fry were placed in the tanks.
“And they were extremely excited to double their growth in six months,” Chairvolotti said. Now, using today’s technology and fish feeds, the fish’s growth can “easily” be doubled in a bit less than a month.
During a visit to the facility on May 16, most of the tanks were unoccupied but one in the front corner inside the building contained baby kokanee salmon destined for Barkhamsted’s West Hill Pond.
“There’s a great following of people that love to fish specifically for these salmon, and according to them they’re some of the best tasting fish that we can raise,” Chairvolotti said.
Every year, around Columbus Day weekend, field biologists set trap nets and capture adult salmon approximately three years old, bringing between 600 and 800 back to the hatchery, where they are spawned, meaning eggs and milt are removed from the fish. The eggs are then fertilized and placed in incubators, and cared for until they hatch.
Called upwelling incubation trays, the drawer-sized trays are stacked along a wall in the building. Cool water, ideally about 48 degrees, comes up through the bottom of the tray and floods over a screen where the eggs are kept.
When the babies or ‘fry’ are slightly smaller than a fingernail, they are put into smaller tanks in the hatch house. When they lose their yolk sacks, staff begin feeding them
According to Chairvolotti, there is someone at the hatchery every single day of the year. Their responsibilities vary depending on the season of the fishes’ growth and the specific task at hand.
When fish are spawning, for example, someone must take the eggs and milt, disinfect the eggs and put them in incubators. Measurements and count must be taken to determine how many eggs there are per ounce.
The eggs must be cared for, for 45 to 60 days. When they reach a certain point in their life cycle called “eye up” they can be handled and the dead ones must be picked out every day.
“We’ll have 250 to 300,000 eggs to care for at a time,” Chairvolotti said.
When the eggs hatch, the work becomes more labor intensive as eggshells from each individual fish must be removed.
In addition, the water temperature and flow must be monitored. Too much or too little water can harm the growing fish. The fish also must be watched for signs of stress or disease.
Chairvolotti, who likened the work to farming, said there are also other tasks, such as getting aerators working and clearing branches that often comes down in netting on outdoor tanks.
“If you’re working alone on a weekend, you really have to rank. You have to learn how to multitask,” he said. “You have to be flexible and you have to be able to make decisions on a whim, too.”
During the tour, Chairvolotti pointed out features that have stayed the same for the past 100 years, including the artesian wells and the tanks outside on the grounds beside Bradley Brook. Water from the brook is drawn through pipes into the tanks and used at the hatchery, just as it has been since 1923.
While there are plans for repairs and some upgrades to areas of the facility, most of it, in homage to its history, will remain the same, Chairvolotti said.
One thing that has changed over time is fish feed. In the early days, hatchery staff tried all manner of methods to feed the fish, including hanging animal carcasses above ponds. As the carcasses rotted, maggots would drop into the water and the fish would feed on them.
In the 1950s and 60s, the feed resembled rabbit feed, and in the late 90s, formulas changed to extruded feed -a hard and crunchy protein source. Current nutrition allows for fish at the hatchery to double in size and weight in about 27 to 30 days, he added.
When Michael Bianchi, of Burlington, visited with his grandchildren 5 year old William Bianchi and his sister 3 year old Annie Rose, Chairvolotti took a few moments to show the children where the tank of baby salmon was and gave them feed to toss into one of the ponds outside, where he keeps at the hatchery for an extra year so they get big.
“I want them to be like 17 inches,” he said, showing the kids how to toss the feed through metal netting over the top of the water.
The hatchery is open to the public daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Chairvolotti said he hopes more folks stop by.
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