Fish stocking is an important management tool in the Tennessee and helps us support the
wide
variety of fishing experiences available to anglers here. TWRA owns and operates a total
of ten
hatcheries located throughout the state. Five of these are warm/coolwater facilities and
5 are
coldwater facilities dedicated to trout production. Trout are reared from the egg stage
and
grown out to catchable size (8-12") to be stocked into tailwaters, streams, reservoirs.
Warm/cool
water facilities produce a variety of species including crappie, striped bass, walleye,
sauger,
sunfish, catfish, and bass. Most fish produced are stocked into large reservoirs, but
warmwater
species are also produced for stocking of family fishing lakes, streams, and ponds.
Producing fish is costly and it is important to minimize the cost of production while
maximizing
survival the fish. Using limited hatchery production space wisely means that careful
attention
must be paid to what sizes fish are stocked and time of year that will ensure the best
survival.
Different species are spawned and grown out over different periods of the year which
means that
the production season on many stations is extended throughout much of the year. Hatchery
managers must monitor factors affecting fish survival such as pond water quality,
fertility, and
food availability to ensure that their fingerlings or stock size fish survive.
Construction and
maintenance on each facility's ponds, plumbing, electrical network, and tank systems are
also
ongoing projects to which hatchery personnel are dedicated. |