PEOPLE & 



PLACES 



is a striped bass, a "keeper" at 20 inches. 

 A large, fat catfish is a close second. 



The efficient red brick building 

 housing the visitors' center, aquarium, 

 classroom and administrative space 

 shields the vast system of ponds from the 

 traffic rushing past the Queen Street 

 complex. 



Harrell notes that the 36 ponds 

 account for 25 water-filled acres during 

 the height of the "growing season." There 

 are 29 ponds for striped bass and six for 

 Cape Fear shiners and other fish. Another 

 is designated as a "public use" pond. The 

 shad bypass the ponds and go from tanks 

 to other grow-out hatchery sites. 



During National Fishing Week, the 

 first week of June, school children 

 converge on the hatchery for an annual 

 Fishing Rodeo. Volunteers are matched 

 with the young anglers for a day of 

 guided fishing fun. Wheelchair-bound 

 citizens and others with special needs also 

 have an assisted fishing opportunity. 



Beyond the ponds and fish bams, a 

 boardwalk leads to Pembroke Creek. The 

 beauty of the dark, flowing waters, 

 outlined by moss-covered trees, could 

 easily be a Sunday Morning closing 

 scene. 



Harrell's duties take her far from the 

 tranquil setting several times each year. 

 She is the hatchery's "public face" at the 

 North Carolina State Fair, Seafood Festival, 

 Commercial Fishing Show, boat shows, and 

 other events that fall under her outreach-and- 

 education hat. 



Last year, when the hatchery was in a 

 search mode for a new manager, Harrell rolled 

 up her sleeves and put on her aquaculture hat to 

 help with the production. 



"It's a lot like farming. We plant in spring 

 and harvest in the fall," Harrell says. 



ROOM TO GROW 



"Spring is a busy time," Rakes says. "It 

 takes more than 20 days to fill the ponds." 



In April, the ponds are filled with water 

 from three sources: brackish Pembroke Creek, 

 a freshwater well and a low-salinity water well. 



TOP: In the early 1980s, Rakes, right, served as an assistant 

 to long-time hatcher}' manager Elliott Atstnpenas, 

 who retired in 2001. BOTTOM: At the turn of the 20th century 

 rearing shad at tixe Iratchery required a complicated 

 laboratory system of jars and tubes. 



By then, the hatchery breeding process is 

 well under way. Personnel from the hatchery 

 and other state agencies gather wild female and 

 male shad and striped bass from nearby rivers, 

 streams or sounds using electrofishing methods 

 to minimize stress on the fish. 



The fish are transported in hauling trucks 

 equipped with oxygenated circulating tanks to 

 waiting hatchery aquaculture tanks, where they 

 are monitored for egg maturation. 



The fish are allowed to acclimate to 

 their new surroundings before the laboratory 

 breeding process is put into play. 



New life for shad and stripers begins with 

 a fertilized egg in the closed-system hatchery 

 tanks. Hatching occurs in about 36 hours, with 

 transparent larvae about 4 mm in length. Both 



shad and striper larvae thrive on 

 hatchery-grown brine shrimp for 

 about five days. 



The 5-day-old shad fry are 

 shipped to other grow-out facilities. 

 The striped bass are ready for 

 transfer to hatchery rearing ponds, 

 where they will feed on a natural 

 diet of zooplankton for about a 

 month — from mid-April through 

 May. 



The ponds then are drained and 

 the fish, now about two-inches in 

 length, or Phase I fingerlings, are 

 harvested for stocking. Some will go 

 to inland reservoirs and streams in 

 North Carolina, Virginia and South 

 Carolina. 



The remaining striped bass 

 fingerlings will be restocked into 

 hatchery ponds, where they are fed a 

 prepared diet for several more 

 months until they reach a size of 

 about 4 to 6 inches in October. 

 These Phase II stripers are 

 earmarked for stocking coastal river 

 systems. 



There's a chance that 

 discussions with North Carolina and 

 Virginia resource agencies could 

 result in the hatchery tripling its 

 American shad production this year. 

 Officials are studying how a certain 

 dam is affecting the spawning habits of shad as 

 they travel upstream to spawn. 



'There's a lot of potential for us to meet 

 even greater restoration needs," Rakes says 

 with confidence. 



The Edenton National Fish Hatchery is 

 one of 66 across the country. All fish reared at 

 national hatcheries are stocked into public 

 waters. □ 



The Edenton National Fish Hatchery is 

 open to the public year-round for self-guided 

 tours. Arrangements for tours led by station 

 personnel may be made in advance. 



For information about the annual 

 fishing rodeo and hatchery open house, 

 call 252/482-41 18. 



22 EARLY SUMMER 2003 



