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Summer Recreation Program Tours Randolph Fish Hatchery

Mr. T tells visitors about what the fish hatchery does during a recent summer recreation tour. P-J photo by Rose Mary Carver

POLAND — The Town of Poland Summer Recreation Program recently took a field trip to the New York State Fish Hatchery in Randolph.

Participants got a guided tour of the facility with Mr. T, as he asked to be called, telling them about what they do. He told how the eggs are fertilized with the milt, then kept for 50 days to see if they are viable.

Pictures and samples were shown to give visitors a good look at the process. In a year’s time, they process about 6 million fertilized eggs for different species of trout, which are then divided up among all the hatcheries in the state.

They raise some of the fish to a size large enough to release into local lakes and streams, and some they keep for breeding stock. The hatchery is supplied with water from a natural spring, thus giving the fish a good start. Visitors then got to go outside and use some fish meal to feed the different sizes of the trout in the pools. Many had covers over the pools, to prevent predation by birds and other fish-eating wildlife.

Watching the immediate reaction of all the fish in a pool when food was thrown into one spot gave the visitor an idea of what the fish can do. Many felt it was interesting to learn about how the fish develop, since our area has many avid fishermen, as well as those who enjoy eating them. This was just one of several field trips the recreation program is providing this summer for fun and education.

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