Services

Staff from Edenton National Fish Hatchery have spawned and raised Atlantic striped bass for release into local waters around the time of the Wright brothers’ first flight. In the early years, the hatchery released millions of larval fish. As hatchery staff improved production methods, they have been able to stock older fish. Research has shown that older, larger fish tend to survive better.  In the last 6 years, the hatchery staff have released a total of over 1 million 6-8 month old fish, the most for that size/age of any Atlantic Striped Bass Hatchery in the US. Anglers have caught our hatchery’s striped bass from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to Maine.

In recent years, another focus of the hatchery has been restoration programs. Since 2014, the hatchery has released over 30 thousand lake sturgeon into the Tennessee River or its tributaries (including the French Broad River in western North Carolina) as part of a multiagency restoration program. In support of endangered freshwater mussels, the hatchery has successfully cultured a host fish, the white shiner. In addition, the hatchery has begun efforts to rear endangered Cape Fear shiners.  Our newest program is head starting gopher frogs.

Atlantic Striped Bass

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Striped bass harvest, by weight, was the largest of all recreationally targeted species in the nation. However, in 2019, a new benchmark assessment found the stock to be overfished and experiencing overfishing. Edenton National Fish Hatchery annually contributes hundreds of thousands of juvenile fish to the Neuse and Tar Rivers in North Carolina to help sustain their populations.

Lake Sturgeon

Although this species not listed as federally endangered, lake sturgeon are listed as a threatened or endangered species in 19 of the 20 states it inhabits. In North Carolina, they are listed as a species of Special Concern. They were believed to be extirpated (completely fished out) from North Carolina in the mid-20th century. As part of a multi-agency restoration effort for the Tennessee River and its tributaries, Edenton National Fish Hatchery and Table Rock State Fish Hatchery began stocking the French Broad River to reintroduce this fish to North Carolina for the first time in roughly 50 years.

Cape Fear Shiner

The federal government and the state of North Carolina classify this species as endangered. These fish are native to Cape Fear River Basin in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Edenton National Fish Hatchery, the Raleigh Endangered Species Office, and the state of North Carolina are working to propagate and release these fish into areas of the Cape Fear River Basin where there numbers are extremely low or where they no longer exist.

Johnny Darter

At the request of the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission (NCWRC), Edenton National Fish Hatchery began a pilot program to raise Johnny Darters.  Johnny Darters are a host fish for the endangered dwarf wedgemussel.  When the mussels are young, they must attach to a fish host to grow and mature. Edenton National Fish Hatchery's goal is to produce enough healthy Johnny darters to serve as hosts to NCWRC and other natural resource partners in support of threatened or endangered mussel restoration programs.