Albert
Powell Hatchery is located in Hagerstown, Maryland and is named after a
former Superintendent of Hatcheries. Construction began in 1946 and was
completed in 1949. Albert Powell Hatchery personnel hatch more than 600,000 trout eggs annually
and receive egg shipments from private suppliers, as well as numerous federal
hatcheries. This hatchery supplies necessary trout production requirements to meet
numerous Fishing and Boating Services goals such as internal facility fish
transfers, both spring and fall “Put and Take” stocking seasons, Youth Fishing
Rodeo Program and “Put and Grow” juvenile stocking requests from Freshwater
Fisheries Program Regional Biologists.
Hatchery visiting hours are M-F (9 - 4:30) for public viewing. Please call 301-791-4736 (ext.106) or alt. 301-393-5940 (ext. 105) for any information or questions regarding the hatchery. While visiting, please park in designated locations and follow all directives and bio-security signs to keep the hatchery clean and pathogen free.
The water used at the hatchery is
supplied by a spring that averages 3,400 gallons per minute and is considered
the second largest spring in Maryland. Covers are placed on the water
surface to reduce the aquatic vegetative growth of duckweed, water cress and
grasses. Aerators in the spring operate seasonally to increase oxygen and
reduce harmful gases, such as nitrogen.
The hatchroom is equipped with five incubator stacks and 16 circular fry/starter tanks. Trout are
cultured in the hatchroom for approximately 2.5 months before being transferred
to our outdoor culture raceways.
19 outdoor
culture raceways are used for adult trout production. Raceways are of various
widths and lengths and utilized to hold maximum fish densities at harvest time.
Each raceway
is housed with a regenerative blower capable of supplying adequate dissolved
oxygen (D.O.) levels during high density loads.
A trophy
fish holding area (Generic Pond) houses as many as 300 trout that will average
5-8 lbs each.
High
sediment loads in the water column are created during raceway cleaning. All
suspended solids are diverted to a water treatment facility during cleaning
operations where they are captured in this clarifier. Clear water then outfalls
over the weir and back into Beaver Creek.
For more
information concerning Albert Powell Hatchery, contact Eric Bittner at
301-393-5940 ext. 105.
