Fish Hatcheries Impact on the Environment

    Fish Hatcheries Impact on our Environment

Local

         Annie Ropeik from NHPR news states that "A new federal water permit is out for a state fish hatchery in New Durham that's accused, in a federal lawsuit, of polluting waters that feed into Lake Winnipesaukee." This new permit is to try to limit the wastewater that is dumped into the surrounding river. According to Annie “The new permit lowers by about half – the EPA’s initially proposed limit on how much phosphorus the hatchery can put into the river, from 25 to 12 parts per billion year-round.” She also acknowledges that the state has a short term plan to help reduce the waist because the permit will take a long time to activate. This includes “changing to a lower-phosphorus fish food, moving some fish to other hatcheries, and storing waste for land application as fertilizer instead of putting it into the river.” We also see this happening on a global scale not just locally.

(Rainbow Trout. 4 Apr. 2014)

                    

Global

    

        The Fish Site talks about how focused on how important these fish hatcheries are to keep the populations growing and from going extinct. One major sea animal we see on a global scale is a fish called a grouper. The fish site talks about them in their article, “Always popular and highly valued across the Mediterranean region, groupers range in size from 20cm to over 2m. They are traditionally caught wild using nets, traps and baited hooks, but rising global demand, declining natural stocks and a more sustainable mindset has forced the industry to shift from wild-caught to farmed fish.” They also say that the “landings of dusky grouper have declined by 86 percent in the past 24 years.” This is a big problem because they are such a popular saltwater fish. This is why we need to help thies fish instead of just continuing to not let them reproduce. This is why fisheries are so important to the survival of certain species. According to The Fish Site “Around a dozen grouper species are now being raised using hatchery-produced seedstock. In 2015, production peaked at 155,000 tonnes, with a total farmgate value of $630 million.” This proves how much fisheries help fish species from going extinct. Just like on a local scale we see an impact of the fisheries of global pictures.

NHPR news tells us how a new federal permit was given to a Fish Hatchery in New Durham. Through a federal lawsuit they were forced to stop dumping all their waste into rivers that feed into Lake Winnipesaukee. This new permit cuts the amount of phosphorus that the Hatchery is allowed to dump into the river in half. This was important to the water quality of the river and Lake Winnipesaukee. The NHPR also states that we have come up with a short term solution to prevent the amount of the discharge of waste. One way they did this was by changing to a lower phosphorus fish food, moving some fish to other hatcheries, and also using the leftover waste as fertilizer for land instead of dumping it into the river.

However Fish hatcheries are extremely important to the survival of certain species. One way that these fisheries help the survival of species is by growing them at a steady rate and in a healthy environment. This also allows people to be able to eat these animals that are struggling such as Brown Trout. Brown Trout are a very temperamental fish. They need the perfect temperature water with the perfect amount of oxygen in the water. They also do not do well with other fish species. This is why there are designated trout ponds that are not allowed to be stocked with any other type of fish. Not only would the person be facing great fines but they will also be killing every Trout that is in the pond or lake. They are a very delicate fish and that is why there are designated Trout ponds where there are no motors allowed on the lake and normally there will be a rule that you can only fish with non barbed hooks. If you don't know what a barb on a fishing hook is see the picture below. This gives the fish a fighting chance and adds a level of difficulty to get them in the boat. Trout are a very tasty fish which is why so many people fish for them, this is why Fish and Game strongly enforce the limits on fish. During certain times of year they allow more fish to be kept and in others they do not allow any to be kept. This is usually during spawning times to give them the best possible chance to reproduce and make new offspring. This is why fisheries are so important to the survival of many fish species, not just trout. They provide a safe environment for the fish to grow and then they release them into these places that they will thrive. 

Citations

Https://pixabay.com/vectors/trout-fish-rainbow-trout-animal-294469/. Rainbow
     Trout. 4 Apr. 2014. Pixibay, 4 Apr. 2014, pixabay.com/vectors/
     trout-fish-rainbow-trout-animal-294469/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.

Ropeik, Annie. "Advocates Applaud New EPA Permit For State Fish Hatchery Accused
     Of River Pollution." NHPR, 19 Oct. 2020, www.nhpr.org/post/
     advocates-applaud-new-epa-permit-state-fish-hatchery-accused-river-pollution#stre
     am/0. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.

Van Beijnen, Jonah. "Five potential game-changers for EU aquaculture." The Fish
     Site, Gregg Yan, 27 July 2020, thefishsite.com/articles/
     five-potential-game-changers-for-eu-aquaculture. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.