5 days ago
New York State invests $120M to modernize fish hatcheries
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A big investment is reeling in major improvements for New York State's fish hatcheries.
The Department of Environmental Conservation is announcing a $120 million investment to modernize freshwater fish hatcheries across the state.
The announcement took place at the historic Caledonia Fish Hatchery, the oldest in the Western hemisphere, just in time to kick off the annual Caledonia Trout Festival this weekend.
The funding marks the start of a three-phase project to upgrade 12 hatcheries statewide, ensuring the continued success of fish stocking and conservation programs.
And as it happens, Friday, the New York State Senate confirmed the first openly gay DEC commissioner Amanda Lefton. We heard from her today on the investment.
'So our hatcheries systems in NYS really stock over 1,000 water bodies all across New York,' Lefton said. 'So, we have anglers that go out and catch fish. And they might not even know that we helped raise those fish and these stocking efforts are really so helpful to help with restoration efforts but for the angling communities. And what's so neat about Caledonia is the history, a lot of people grew up going to this hatchery.'
These hatcheries support a recreational fishing industry that already contributes $5 billion annually to New York's economy.
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