August 4, 2011
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Hatchery
Joshua and I recently visited a Federal Hatchery in Massachusetts. We chose this hatchery as they have a program in place where they are releasing Atlantic Salmon into the Connecticut River. Joshua had recently seen a documentary on salmon so we thought it would be interesting to see how *they* stock salmon versus salmon naturally being in the Connecticut River. It was!
Most of the tanks had these little huts over them to provide shade. The tanks were filled with always running water which was about 44 degrees. The hatchery circulates approx 250,000 gallons of water each day. The water is provided by mountain stream.
We saw Lake Trout, Rainbow Trout, and Atlantic Salmon fingerlings.
Lake Trout
The Atlantic Salmon were three months old in this tank. We learned all about their program of releasing salmon to the Connecticut River. They have had this program in place for over 30 years. The rate of salmon returning to the river is dwindling. They believe it is due to the Long Island Sound temperatures that have been warming. Salmon do not like warm water. We also learned about how they hatch the eggs of salmon and got a tour of their hatching equipment.
....more trout.
I love how we decided to take this tour. We had to run an errand in Massachusetts, so we wondered what could we do that would be nearby. After some quick internet searches we had some possibilities. Joshua chose the hatchery, it was a perfect choice especially in lieu of his recent documentary viewing.
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