Managing Challenges and Conflicts with the Wise Use of Fish Hatcheries and Traditional Production Objectives Part 1

The traditional objective of most government fish hatcheries is the production of large numbers of sport fish to support recreational harvest, commercial harvest, or aboriginal food fisheries. Commercial hatcheries have traditionally produced large numbers of a single species of fish for food.  Recently the responsibilities and strategies of many government hatcheries, and some commercial hatcheries, have changed in response to criticism such as the potential or realized collateral impacts of traditional stocking programs. Many hatcheries now must resolve conflicts between these traditional production objectives and new or revised objectives which include the genetic diversity and fitness of fisheries, growing demand for the production or refuge of endangered or threatened aquatic species, water conservation, and fish for research programs. Presentations will discuss how hatchery managers and staff use new tools and techniques to meet these evolving objectives of modern fish culture facilities. Presentations will focus on the challenges that these new objectives present because traditional funding mechanisms, measures of hatchery production success, angler perceptions, hatchery design and operations, and staff experience may have not kept pace with these changing demands.