{{Short description|Fish hatchery and park in Pennsylvania, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox protected area | name = Allegheny National Fish Hatchery | iucn_category = | iucn_ref = | logo = Allegheny NFH entrance sign.png | image = Allegheny National Fish Hatchery (5713790120).jpg | image_caption = '''TOP:''' The Allegheny National Fish Hatchery's entrance sign on a winter day. '''ABOVE:''' A downstream view from the [[Kinzua Dam]] of the Allegheny River (left) and the Allegheny National Fish Hatchery (center). | map = USA Pennsylvania#United States | image_map = | map_width = | map_caption = Location of Allegheny National Fish Hatchery. | relief = 1 | location = [[Warren, Pennsylvania|Warren]], [[Pennsylvania]], {{nowrap|United States}} | nearest_city = | nearest_town = | coordinates = {{coords|41.8417|N|079.0061|W|region:US-PA_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | coords_ref = | area_acre = 45 | area_ref = | elevation = | elevation_avg = | elevation_min = | elevation_max = | designation = | authorized = | created = | designated = | established = {{start date|1975}} | named_for = | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | visitation_ref = | governing_body = [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] | website = {{URL|https://www.fws.gov/fish-hatchery/allegheny}} }}
The '''Allegheny National Fish Hatchery''' is a [[fish hatchery]] administered by the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] on the north bank of the [[Allegheny River]]. It lies on {{convert|45|acre|0|abbr=off|lk=on}} of land in [[Warren County, Pennsylvania|Warren County]], [[Pennsylvania]], about {{convert|200|ft|0}} downriver from the [[Kinzua Dam]] and is a component of the [[National Fish Hatchery System]]. Like other components of the National Fish Hatchery System, the hatchery's mission is to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, [[wildlife]], plants, and their [[habitat]]s, as well to cooperate with like-minded partners to further these goals. Specifically, the hatchery produces [[lake trout]] (''Salvelinus namaycush'') and bloaters (''[[Coregonus hoyi]]'') for the restoration of populations of those [[species]] in [[Lake Erie]] and [[Lake Ontario]].<ref name=alleghenynfh>{{cite web |author=<!--not stated--> |url=https://www.fws.gov/fish-hatchery/allegheny |title=Allegheny National Fish Hatchery |website=www.fws.gov |publisher=[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] |access-date=11 August 2025 }}</ref><ref name=alleghenynfhaboutus>{{cite web |author=<!--not stated--> |url=https://www.fws.gov/fish-hatchery/allegheny/about-us |title=Allegheny National Fish Hatchery About Us |website=www.fws.gov |publisher=[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] |access-date=11 August 2025 }}</ref><ref name=alleghenynfhwhatwedo>{{cite web |author=<!--not stated--> |url=https://www.fws.gov/fish-hatchery/allegheny/what-we-do |title=Allegheny National Fish Hatchery What We Do |website=www.fws.gov |publisher=[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] |access-date=11 August 2025 }}</ref>
==History== The [[United States Congress]] authorized the Allegheny National Fish Hatchery in 1959. Between 1960 and 1965, the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] built the [[Kinzua Dam]] on the [[Allegheny River]] to control flooding. In 1966, the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] (USFWS) entered into a 50-year use agreement for a site for the hatchery on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-owned land just below the dam. Construction of the hatchery finally began in 1973. After the completion of the first phase of its construction, the hatchery began to produce fish in 1975. It reached its full production capacity upon completion of the second phase of construction in 1978.<ref name=alleghenynfhaboutus/><ref name=alleghenynfhvisitus>{{cite web |author=<!--not stated--> |url=https://www.fws.gov/fish-hatchery/allegheny/visit-us |title=Allegheny National Fish Hatchery Visit Us |website=www.fws.gov |publisher=[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] |access-date=11 August 2025 }}</ref>
Initially, the hatchery produced brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis''), [[brown trout]] (''Salmo trutta''), [[rainbow trout]] (''Oncorhynchus mykiss''), and landlocked [[Atlantic salmon]] (''Salmo salar'') for the stocking of Lake Erie, [[Lake Michigan]], Lake Ontario, and waterways in [[Pennsylvania]] and [[New York (state)|New York]].<ref name=alleghenynfhaboutus/> It produced as many as 1.3 million fish annually until 2005, when lake trout and brook trout at the hatchery tested positive for [[infectious pancreatic necrosis]], a highly contagious disease capable of killing up to 90 percent of young fish it infects. To prevent the disease from spreading, all fish at the hatchery were destroyed. During a thorough decontamination of the facility that followed, the staff discovered serious infrastructure problems that prevented the hatchery from resuming its operations.<ref name=alleghenynfhbackinbusiness>{{cite web |url=https://www.fws.gov/story/2012-01/allegheny-national-fish-hatchery-back-business-raising-lake-trout-lower-great-lakes |author=<!--not stated--> |title=Allegheny National Fish Hatchery Back in Business, Raising Lake Trout for Lower Great Lakes Fisheries |website=www.fws.gov |publisher=[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] |date=30 January 2012 |access-date=11 August 2025 }}</ref>
In 2009, funding for repairs became available through the [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act]], and in March 2010 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service let a contract for repairs that included a new degasification system and a new oxygen generation system — necessary because the water supplied by the hatchery's four wells is supersaturated with [[nitrogen]] and must go through an [[aeration]] and [[degassing]] process to make it non-toxic for fish, then be injected with [[oxygen]] to enhance water quality. The repairs also included the installation of a new well-water treatment system and the construction of a new structure to house equipment associated with the new systems.<ref name=alleghenynfhbackinbusiness/> {{multiple image | align = left | total_width = 450
| image1 = Hatchery receives lake trout eggs (6601047885).jpg | alt1 = | caption1 =
| image2 = Lake trout in raceway (6601048211).jpg | alt2 = | caption2 =
| footer = The hatchery resumes operations in late 2011. '''LEFT:''' On December 6, 2011, an employee handles [[lake trout]] (''Salvelinus namaycush'') eggs received from other hatcheries. '''RIGHT:''' Lake trout received from the [[Berkshire National Fish Hatchery]] swim in a [[Raceway (aquaculture)|raceway]] at the Allegheny facility on December 29, 2011. }} [[File:Allegheny National Fish Hatchery (6601045541).jpg|thumb|The [[Kinzua Dam]] as seen from the Allegheny National Fish Hatchery.]] With the repairs complete, the hatchery finally resumed fish production in November 2011, when 2,200 juvenile lake trout from the [[Berkshire National Fish Hatchery]] in western [[Massachusetts]] were released into the Allegheny National Fish Hatchery's [[Raceway (aquaculture)|raceways]] to serve as its new broodstock.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!--not stated--> |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsnortheast/6601048211 |title=Lake trout in raceway (caption) |website=flickr.com |publisher=[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] |date=30 December 2011 |access-date=11 August 2025 }}</ref> In December 2011, the hatchery received a total of one million lake trout eggs from the [[State of Vermont]]'s Salisbury Fish Hatchery, the [[Sullivan Creek National Fish Hatchery]] in [[Michigan]], and the [[Iron River National Fish Hatchery]] in [[Wisconsin]]. The hatchery's focus became the production of lake trout to support the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and as of 2012 it was the only hatchery dedicated to restoring lake trout to the lakes.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!--not stated--> |url=https://www.healthylakes.org/latest-news/renovated-hatchery-could-bolster-lake-trout-populations|title=Renovated hatchery Could Bolster Lake Trout Populations |website=healthylakes.org |publisher=[[Great Lakes Coalition]] |date=13 November 2012 |access-date=11 August 2025 }}</ref> The first fish the hatchery produced after it resumed operations were stocked into the lakes in May 2013.<ref name=alleghenynfhbackinbusiness/> In 2016 the USFWS renewed its land-use agreement for the hatchery with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for another 50 years.<ref name=alleghenynfhaboutus/>
==Management== The USFWS manages and operates the Allegheny National Fish Hatchery.<ref name=alleghenynfh/>
==Activities== [[File:Allegheny NFH lake trout fry for stocking Great Lakes in 2015.png|thumb|[[Lake trout]] (''Salvelinus namaycush'') fry swimming at the hatchery prior to their spring 2015 release into the {{nowrap|[[Great Lakes]].}}]] As of 2025, the Allegheny National Fish Hatchery focuses on the production of [[lake trout]] (''Salvelinus namaycush'') and bloaters (''[[Coregonus hoyi]]'') for the restoration of populations of lake trout in {{nowrap|[[Lake Erie]]}} and {{nowrap|[[Lake Ontario]]}} and of bloaters in Lake Ontario. Its work supports the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a partnership of 16 [[United States Government]], [[U.S. state]], and [[Provinces of Canada|Canadian provincial]] agencies working together to address the most significant environmental problems in the Great Lakes.<ref name=alleghenynfh/><ref name=alleghenynfhbackinbusiness/><ref>{{cite web |author=<!--not stated--> |url=https://www.fws.gov/fish-hatchery/allegheny/species |title=Allegheny National Fish Hatchery Featured Species |website=www.fws.gov |publisher=[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] |access-date=11 August 2025 }}</ref>
Fish hatched at the hatchery spend about 18 months there before they are released into the wild. Fish production takes place on a cycle that sees the hatchery staff take eggs from gravid female fish and spawn them in October and November. The eggs hatch and the young fry begin to grow between December and March. In August and September, the hatchery uses automated machinery to tag and fin-clip the fish for lake survival and growth studies. By the following April and May the fish have become "yearlings" — about 18 months old and {{convert|6|to|8|in|cm}} long — and the staff loads them into trucks which transport them to the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in Pennsylvania, New York, and [[Ohio]], where they are released into the lakes.<ref name=alleghenynfhvisitus/><ref name=alleghenynfhbackinbusiness/>
The hatchery works with local partners to stage outreach events that educate the public about hatchery operations, [[fisheries science]], and [[Conservation biology|conservation]].<ref>{{cite web |author=<!--not stated--> |url=https://www.fws.gov/fish-hatchery/allegheny/get-involved |title=Allegheny National Fish Hatchery Ways to Get Involved |website=www.fws.gov |publisher=[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] |access-date=11 August 2025 }}</ref>
==Recreation== [[File:Allegheny NFH fishing access.png|thumb|[[Recreational fishing]] in the [[Allegheny River]] at the hatchery.]] {{multiple image | align = right | total_width = 450
| image1 = Allegheny NFH mallards.png | alt1 = | caption1 =
| image2 = Allegheny NFH killdeer.png | alt2 = | caption2 =
| image3 = Allegheny NFH bald eagles.png | alt3 = | caption3 =
| footer = Birds at the hatchery. '''LEFT:''' [[Mallard]]s (''Anas platyrhynchos''). '''MIDDLE:''' A [[killdeer]] (''Charadrius vociferus''). '''RIGHT:''' [[Bald eagle]]s (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus''). }} The Allegheny National Fish Hatchery offers tours in which visitors can observe and learn about its operations. Throughout the year, the public can see the hatchery staff feed young fish and carry out other tasks related to raising them. On various days during April and May visitors can see the hatchery staff loading trucks with yearling fish for transport to Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. In August and September, the public can observe the hatchery's use of automated machinery to tag and clip the fins of fish. During October and November, visitors can look on as the staff takes eggs, normally on Tuesdays, and spawns them. From December through March, the public can visit as the hatchery incubates eggs and begins to raise young fry.<ref name=alleghenynfhvisitus/><ref name=alleghenynfhbackinbusiness/>
The waters of the Allegheny River below the Kinzua Dam in the vicinity of the hatchery provide good [[recreational fishing]] opportunities for [[trout]], [[walleye]] (''Sander vitreus''), [[Bass (fish)|bass]] ([[Percomorpha]]), and [[muskellunge]] (''Esox masquinongy''). Fishing is not permitted at the hatchery itself, but upon request the hatchery will provide shore access to anglers. In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed and maintains a fishing platform and public toilet facilities adjacent to<ref name=alleghenynfhvisitus/> and just upstream from the hatchery. Located on [[Pennsylvania Route 59]], the platform is open 24 hours a day except when the Allegheny River's flow rate exceeds {{convert|6000|cuft/s|m3/s|0|abbr=on}} or when winter weather conditions prompt road closures.
The hatchery's environs also offer opportunities for [[birdwatching]]. [[Bald eagle]]s (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus''), [[killdeer]] (''Charadrius vociferus''), [[osprey]] (''Pandion haliaetus''), [[mallard]]s (''Anas platyrhynchos''), and [[swallow]]s are common in the area.<ref name=alleghenynfhvisitus/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.fws.gov/fish-hatchery/allegheny Allegheny National Fish Hatchery official site] {{commonscat|Allegheny National Fish Hatchery}} {{National Fish Hatcheries of the United States}} {{Protected areas of Pennsylvania}}
[[Category:1975 establishments in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:National Fish Hatcheries of the United States]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Warren County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Tourist attractions in Warren County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Agricultural buildings and structures in Pennsylvania]]