06-13-2007, 09:10 PM
Approximately 50,000 catchable-size (10-inch) rainbow trout died at the Colorado Division of Wildlife's Durango hatchery on Sunday evening after a seasonal worker forgot to re-open a water valve that had been closed temporarily during routine cleaning operations. Permanent hatchery personnel discovered the closed valve early Monday morning and were able to restore fresh water flows and prevent a total loss of the catchable-size rainbows at the hatchery facility.
Just over 84,000 fish were in the concrete raceways at the time. "The fish that survived are healthy," said Toby Mourning, hatchery manager.
The 10-inch Rainbow trout had been raised over the last 15 months to a catchable size. Before the mishap about 72,000 rainbow trout had been released in rivers and lakes throughout the Four Corners area. The hatchery is scheduled to release a total of 156,620 fish this year.
The public viewing area at the hatchery raceways will re-open on Wednesday.
The problem did not affect any other area of the hatchery and will not impact fish production for next year. The fish-kill will have minimal impact on stocking activities because surplus catchable-size trout can be brought in from some of the DOW's other coldwater hatcheries around the state. The state raises about 3.78 million catchable-size trout each year.
"Fortunately we have a lot of flexibility in our system so we can deliver fish from other hatcheries to the Durango area," said Rick Kolecki, state hatchery chief for the DOW. "This should not impact summer recreational fishing."
Water from springs flows continuously through the hatchery. Raceways where the fish are raised must be cleaned regularly. In standard procedure, fresh water to the south raceway was shut down during a regular cleaning operation late Sunday afternoon. When the worker forgot to re-open the valve, the supply of oxygen in the water that remained in the south raceway became depleted overnight and caused the fish to die.
The dead fish were discovered by Mourning about 7:15 a.m. on Monday. He immediately realized what happen and re-opened the valve.
The carcasses were removed from the hatchery and buried Monday at a designated disposal site in the Bodo State Wildlife area.
Just over 84,000 fish were in the concrete raceways at the time. "The fish that survived are healthy," said Toby Mourning, hatchery manager.
The 10-inch Rainbow trout had been raised over the last 15 months to a catchable size. Before the mishap about 72,000 rainbow trout had been released in rivers and lakes throughout the Four Corners area. The hatchery is scheduled to release a total of 156,620 fish this year.
The public viewing area at the hatchery raceways will re-open on Wednesday.
The problem did not affect any other area of the hatchery and will not impact fish production for next year. The fish-kill will have minimal impact on stocking activities because surplus catchable-size trout can be brought in from some of the DOW's other coldwater hatcheries around the state. The state raises about 3.78 million catchable-size trout each year.
"Fortunately we have a lot of flexibility in our system so we can deliver fish from other hatcheries to the Durango area," said Rick Kolecki, state hatchery chief for the DOW. "This should not impact summer recreational fishing."
Water from springs flows continuously through the hatchery. Raceways where the fish are raised must be cleaned regularly. In standard procedure, fresh water to the south raceway was shut down during a regular cleaning operation late Sunday afternoon. When the worker forgot to re-open the valve, the supply of oxygen in the water that remained in the south raceway became depleted overnight and caused the fish to die.
The dead fish were discovered by Mourning about 7:15 a.m. on Monday. He immediately realized what happen and re-opened the valve.
The carcasses were removed from the hatchery and buried Monday at a designated disposal site in the Bodo State Wildlife area.