Early propagation efforts yielded between 12,000 and 20,000 fish annually, though bass production was eventually discontinued due to limited success. In 1939, the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed four concrete raceways each 8 feet wide, 200 feet long, and 3 feet deep enhancing the facility’s operational capacity. The Maryland Fish and Game Service utilized the site until 1950, at which point operations shifted to the newly acquired Albert Powell Trout Hatchery.

For the next three decades, various sportsmen’s groups and the Pennsylvania Game Commission used the hatchery for propagation activities. In the early 1980s, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), through the Tidewater Administration, re-entered a lease agreement with the Cushwa family. Subsequent property owners have continued to honor lease agreements with DNR’s Fishing and Boating Services.

Today, three of the four original raceways remain in use for trout production, with only minimal reconstruction needed. A key feature of the hatchery is its limestone spring, which supplies a consistent flow of 52°F water at approximately 600 gallons per minute—ideal conditions for coldwater fish production.

Recent improvements include the addition of a hatching building, and a rearing shelter constructed over one of the raceways. This facility houses seven 8-foot circular tanks used for hatching and rearing brown trout to support Maryland’s annual fall and spring stocking programs. These efforts help meet the demands of both “Put and Grow” and “Put and Take” fisheries management strategies.

Cushwa Fish Hatchery operates as a satellite facility of the Albert Powell Hatchery. To maintain strict biosecurity and ensure the health of fish stocks, it is not open to the public.

For more information, please contact Michael Anderson at the Albert Powell Fish Hatchery
at 301-393-5940, ext. 108.

​​ Hatching and rearing building​

​ Rearing tank

​ Cushwa Spring​

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