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ROME, N.Y. -- Recent flooding in the Delta Lake area just north of Rome resulted in problems and most likely the loss of a significant number of brown trout at the state-run, Rome Fish Hatchery, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
“An Aug. 19 storm event caused significant flooding at the Rome Hatchery. Heavy rains to the north of the hatchery resulted in historic flooding of Delta Lake (a primary water supply for the hatchery) and the nearby Mohawk River. As a result, the ‘East Ponds,’ which contained approximately 270,000 brown trout, were inundated with water. Water began to recede late in the evening, and by 10 p.m., most of the ponds that contained fish were above the flood waters,” according to a written statement from the DEC.
“DEC is assessing the full impact of the flooding; preliminary estimates suggest less than a total loss. It is too early to determine how this will impact spring 2022 stocking. There does not appear to be significant physical damage to hatchery infrastructure; cleanup and assessment efforts are ongoing.”
The DEC said the brown trout lost were approximately 5.5 inches in length and would have been stocked at roughly 9 inches in the spring of 2022.
The area has been hit hard in recent weeks as the nearby town of Western just north of the reservoir has been slammed by a tornado and three floods in the past six weeks.
The hatchery is one of DEC’s largest, with annual production totaling nearly 160,000 pounds of brook, rainbow and brown trout, according to the DEC website. Hatchery staff play a major role in providing fish for airplane and helicopter stocking of remote waters.
The Rome Fish Disease Center, also known as the Rome Lab, is also located on the hatchery grounds. Staff at the lab maintain a brood stock of disease-resistant strains of brook and brown trout, along with a laboratory where research activities and disease diagnosis of fish can be conducted.
In 2020, the discovery of tiny, invasive zebra mussels at the hatchery created a giant headache for the DEC prior to the opening of that year’s state’s trout fishing season.
The revelation resulted in reduced or no stocking of trout that spring from the hatchery at a number of Upstate New York waterways in parts of the Adirondacks and Central New York. In some cases, different trout species from other fish hatcheries were stocked in place of ones that are regularly stocked in waters.
Zebra mussels are an invasive, fingernail- sized, mollusk native to fresh waters in Euroasia. They negatively impact ecosystems – filtering out algae that native species need for food. They also attach to, as well as incapacitate native mussels and can clog up water intake pipes.
They were discovered in the Delta Lake in late January 2020. The reservoir supplies much of the water to the hatchery located a short distance downstream from the lake’s dam. The hatchery also relies on groundwater from a spring to raise its trout.
Upon finding them in the lake, DEC immediately launched an investigation and discovered zebra mussel larvae in hatchery ponds filled with water from the lake that contained brook and brown trout. There were none found in ponds fed by spring water. Read more about this.
As for the recent flooding, hatchery staff is expected to inventory the fish still at the hatchery later this week for a more accurate account of how many were lost.
“Over the weekend, staff have removed debris from the outdoor ponds; the water is still relatively turbid,” DEC added.
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August 25, 2021 at 11:21PM
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DEC: Significant numbers of trout likely lost from Rome Fish Hatchery during recent flooding - newyorkupstate.com
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