Disease hits Pequest Hatchery Runway

[Michael82929]

Of course the fish that were affected were the three yr old bombers...


In order to control a disease that has affected a section of the Pequest Trout Hatchery in Warren County, the NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is euthanizing a small portion of its trout population and taking other steps to protect the overall integrity of the facility.
Furunculosis, a fatal disease affecting cold water species of fish such as trout, was discovered recently in the lowermost portion of the concrete raceway system used to raise trout.

In all, about 25,000 fish will be euthanized, a small portion of the more than 600,000 trout the hatchery raises every year. The Division believes the disease was transferred to the hatchery by ospreys and herons. These birds, feeding on infected fish in the wild, may have spread the bacteria through contact when feeding on fish in the affected pool at the hatchery.

The hatchery carries sufficient surplus of trout and anticipates only minimal impacts to the fall, winter and spring stocking programs. Approximately 20,000 two-year old brook, brown and rainbow trout will still be distributed in the upcoming fall program which begins October 8 (see NJDEP Division of Fish & Wildlife - Fall 2013 Trout Stocking Schedule for details).

For more information, see the DEP news release at NJDEP - News Release 13/P92 - Division of Fish and Wildlife Takes Steps to Address Disease Affecting Portion of Pequest Trout Hatchery Raceway System .

Back in the day.. they would take those fish and dump them in the pequest but I guess it's bad enough that they cant...

It has only happened twice in all the years(that I know of) I have been involved in the program.

[Wilson]

Bummer, seems like they caught it in time tho.
Thanks for the info.
Andy beat you to the punch

[Skunk City]

Informative post Michael, thanks.

[Michael82929]

Bummer, seems like they caught it in time tho.
Thanks for the info.
Andy beat you to the punch


Andy's god damn avatar got in the way of my reading pleasure.... couldnt make sense of his post.....:D

[Eskimo]

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That doesn't sound too bad.
If I recall correctly, they had an infection of 'whirling disease' a long time ago that really impacted the seasonal stocking. I don't recall any of the details, though.



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[Fish n Jeep]

Is that where the fish swim in circles?

[hofnodinstructor]

Original Hacketttstown Hatchery had whirling disease. They built Pequest to raise the trout that they couldn't raise in Hackettstown anymore. This will cause them to cover the entire hatchery to keep all the birds out. Shame we lost the ability to catch the old trout. Wonder if it will affect the winter stockings on Thanksgiving week.

[NorthJerzyG]

Is that where the fish swim in circles?

Lol!! Yes, but if they don't swim in circles there, they will never swim in place in local fishin holes. :p I personally havnt caught a trout all year. Was lookin forward to chasin some this fall since I paid for a stamp. Will they just skim a few from each stocking??

[Dave B.]

As was stated in the press release the hatchery does indeed carry adequate surplus fish to offset this loss. If you check the numbers you'll find that the Div. regularly stocks over 1,000 fish above the 20,000 quota for the fall, and generally somewhere between 25 and 50 thousand fish above the baseline allocation each spring, this including a surplus of excess broodstock. In light of this there should be very little if any impact on the fall and winter stockings excepting perhaps not getting the usual bonus fish. As well we should expect to see no noticable difference in the spring fishing either except for the loss of the extra fish during the last few stockings when they would normally be distributed. Given the excellent job that Jeff Mathews and crew do at Pequest I seriously doubt anyone will notice a difference in either size or numbers.

[Almaink]

Why are Ospreys and Herons able to get to these ponds in the first place? You would think a net structure would be in place so this couldn't happen.

[buzzbaiter]

Sorry but being a wild trout nut I have no sympathy for hatchery trout. If a disease wiped them all out it would be a landmark day in the history of trout mgt in NJ. A day to be celebrated! I'm only half kidding. I do think we stock too much and not in the right way but that's a beat horse discussion. I'd rather see my trout stamp money go towards stream improvement projects(improve cover/narrow channels/dam removal et al) and towards land purchases to improve access. NJ has plenty of good wild trout water we just can't fish it!.

[Michael82929]

Sorry but being a wild trout nut I have no sympathy for hatchery trout. If a disease wiped them all out it would be a landmark day in the history of trout mgt in NJ. A day to be celebrated! I'm only half kidding. I do think we stock too much and not in the right way but that's a beat horse discussion. I'd rather see my trout stamp money go towards stream improvement projects(improve cover/narrow channels/dam removal et al) and towards land purchases to improve access. NJ has plenty of good wild trout water we just can't fish it!.

Im sorry, but I will enjoy having a healthy discussion with you in terms of your line of thinking. While I have enjoyed my share of fishing wild trout streams, the trout stocking program is a truly benefical program that caters to the angler in NJ. Not to mention the trout stocking programs that gives a lot to boy scout camps, schools and families with the functions they have throughout the year.

While we dont have streams controlled or regulated by water flows, conservation is very hard to maintain with our extreme climate weathers and low water flows throughout the hot summer months

Stream improvement projects / access points - I agree would make for more adventerous angling, the upkeep, and constant money that needs to be poured in for these projects are unavoidably too much to bare. Another thing to factor in is mother nature. You can pour a surplus of money to improve a stream and have it washed out in one fall swoop

The risk reward factor is outweighed. Now to where the money goes... I agree in some respects about stocking fish in certain access points where a majority of the fish are caught but fish do spread out and stretches are fun to fish.

I find more pleasure fishing certain stretches in the winter / pre spring that I would have never fished before. The fall stocking makes for a lot of fun with these fish not ready to go right away and having the ability to move.

Spring - you have your stocking weeks that get pressure but June is a great time to be on the streams and have times to fish and work water.

I couldnt imagine what it would be like not to have a stocking program. Imagine the thousands of anglers / kids who wouldnt be able to experience trout fishing in NJ. Not to mention think of the overcrowded lakes in NJ and neigboring state getting our NJ dollars if we had to travel for trout.

The one thing that I could be useful and shed more light is more education around wild trout streams and what they can provide. I would welcome your response in the hopes of education, collaboration and learning something new.