Fairview, Pa. – Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission wasn’t able to allow volunteers to assist with this year’s steelhead collection on Trout Run.
Fortunately, Mother Nature was able to lend a hand.
The annual collection of steelhead, which are used for spawning purposes by the agency, began on Nov. 16 and will continue to Feb. 8, 2021. Fish and Boat Commission employees hope to catch several hundred fish each during the eight collections, resulting in nearly 4 million eggs spawned at the Fairview Fish Culture Station in Erie County.
This year, things got off to a good start at Trout Run, even without the volunteer help. During the first collection of the year, PFBC crews collected 105 males and 315 females in two hours.
“We only have six or seven employees now, but there’s so many fish in there it’s easy,” said Craig Lucas, Tionesta/Fairview Hatchery Manager. “With all the low water we had, we finally got some rain and the fish were waiting to move in from the lake.”
Despite the abundant number of steelhead in Trout Run, it will take some time for the agency to achieve the numbers they needs – approximately 300-400 females and 120-150 males per collection. Lucas said they encounter a lot of “green” fish, females that aren’t yet ripe with eggs, during the first few collections. The green fish are held in raceways for one week to see if they will spawn before being released, Lucas said.
The end goal for the yearly collection is to produce 1.1 million steelhead smolts to be stocked in the Lake Erie watershed the year after they are hatched, which occurs in April and May. Prior to that, the eggs are distributed to the Linesville State Fish Hatchery where 300,000 steelhead fingerlings are raised and then sent to the Fairview hatchery where they are grown to smolt size. The Tionesta hatchery raises another 750,000 steelhead smolts, plus an additional 100,000 fingerlings that are offered to cooperative nurseries.
A crucial step in the rearing process is the monitoring of viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) and the infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN) viruses in the fish while at the hatchery. While the PFBC has yet to encounter VHS in steelheads, Lucas said IPN appears every so often, and last year it showed up frequently, forcing the agency to increase the number of spawns conducted to 10 because positive eggs had to be discarded
The PFBC is also taking more time to raise the smolts to a larger size, 7-9 inches, before they are stocked. Still, if the fish exceed 9 inches in the hatchery, it’s less likely they’ll imprint on the stream in which they’re stocked.
“When the smolts reach 7 inches and are stocked, it cuts down on the number lost to predators,” Lucas said. “A predator will eat one or two 7-inch fish, as opposed to consuming more if they’re smaller.”
Stockings are conducted in February when the streams are free of ice. Lucas said the timing is important because the smolts, which are voracious eaters, won’t be as susceptible to angling pressure at that time of year.
Still, there is plenty of reason for anglers to be interested in steelhead fishing. Lucas said steelhead numbers and size look good this year, and it doesn’t appear they are being out-competed for forage by the high walleye population in Lake Erie.
“There are plenty of 5-7 pound fish this year, and we had a strong year class from the 2017-2018 spawn,” he said. “It’s been a few years since I’ve seen it this good.”
- This story originally appeared in PA Outdoor News.
