Hatchery Celebrates 10 Yrs

Seneca Nation Walleye Hatchery celebrates 10th year of operations

By Shane Titus & Larry Becelia

Seneca Nation Walleye Hatchery 10th year of operations kicked off in 2022. The hatchery staff have been working diligently to procure the necessary brood stock for the 2022 season. The staff have achieved their goal this year and are well on their way to another successful season.

Over the past ten years (2012-2022) the Hatchery has successfully released over 26,147,800 walleye fry in to the installed protective habitat within the Allegany Reservoir. The Hatchery Staff have also stocked the Allegany River with over 547 female and 1,904 males, totaling 2,451 mature walleyes. The brood stock used for the hatchery, egg take and fertilization process, are released up river in efforts to be able to stock viable walleye that are insured to survive and repopulate the river by naturally spawning.

The hatchery staff have recaptured female walleye that have been used as brood stock in our hatchery from 10 years ago (2012). Back in the days when a simple crude colored tag was used to identify female walleye. We have currently upgraded our system to be able to track individual walleye, opposed to a single basic colored tag to represent the year of usage for all females as a whole.

We have learned, over the past 6 years that the SNI Walleye Hatchery benefits the Upper Allegany River Watershed in its entirety. In 2017, the hatchery upgraded its tagging system and began a study to be able to track its female walleye used as brood stock for the hatchery. Since that date we have discovered that walleye we released on the SNI Territory can, and have, at times, migrated to areas above Eldred PA (Allegany River) and Hinsdale, NY (Ischua Creek).

All female walleye used at the hatchery are cataloged with an identification tag which contains an identification number and web page address, allowing an individual who may have caught said walleye, to participate in the study by filling out information regarding that specific walleye. Information such as, location caught, harvested or released, length, weight and health. Hatchery staff are able to look up that data and tell that particular walleyes previous history before release (Year released, length and weight). Hatchery staff are able to monitor the walleyes health and growth since its original release date. The same premise also exists for recaptured female walleye for use as brood stock again at the hatchery.

The largest walleye that the hatchery has captured to date was a female in 2017. She weighed in at 16 ¼ pounds and was 35 inches in length. That single female alone produced in excess of 400,000 eggs. Female walleye in the northeast region can live to be upwards of 25 years. The importance of returning female walleye back in to the river system to spawn again cannot be over stated. With large females such as this one, she can produce millions of eggs in her lifetime. With cellphones and cameras being more popular these days, we are seeing that the community at large has been taking pictures of their trophy catches and releasing them back into the river. With these practices, coupled with the hatchery’s efforts, we have seen a substantial increase of walleye female populations and average sizes.

The Fish Hatchery operations run exclusively on renewable energy which requires minimal maintenance and financial stress. The facility was constructed with grant funds through the US Fish and Wildlife Service. All electrical requirements are provided to the hatchery by use of solar panels. By using solar power we are able to remain “off the grid.” The hatchery was constructed entirely by staff starting in 2010, it took 2 years to complete facility and operations started in 2012.