A seven-hour power outage and isolated impacts to the emergency back-up system on Tuesday left Allegheny National Fish Hatchery in rural Warren, Penn., with about one-half of the 600,000 lake trout raised to stock lakes Erie and Ontario this year, according to Hatchery Manager Tracy Copeland.
The lake trout were tagged and ready to be stocked in early May by the State of New York and hatchery staff. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-raised lake trout provide an economically important fishery for both New York State and Pennsylvania.
Hatchery staff removed the dead 7-inch-long yearlings and disposed of them according to Service fish health protocols, Copeland said.
"Fortunately, we had minimal loss of the younger lake trout fingerlings, although stress will likely cause additional deaths among both the fingerlings and the harder-hit yearlings," said Copeland. The fingerlings will be stocked by the State of New York and hatchery staff in 2006.
Hatchery staff suspect a power surge that occurred shortly after a scheduled power outage to repair local power company lines damaged the hatcherys emergency generator. The subsequent loss of flowing water to the hatchery tanks and raceways left the fish with inadequate oxygen.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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