Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-10-15
ERIE STATE HATCHERY
TO STOCK LAKE WITH
MILLIONS OF FISH
Preparations Under Way on Gi-
gantic Scale for Hatching of
Eggs-To Plant Many in
Canadian Waters
BIGGEST PLANT IN WORLD

ERIE, Pa, oct IL - Pennsylvania's
largest battery hsh hatchery, iocated at
this place, will IN April. 1916. stock Lake
Erie with about 4O.OOoOOo whitehsh
and about s5OOOo.OOO herring. Work
OF Matching these eggs will begin about
November l. The hatchery at the present
time ls the scene Of the greatest activity,
preparations to receive this vast amount
of eggs now going on.
Going daily from the port OF Erie are
about 70 steam hsh-tugs. The hatchery
places one man on each tug, and by this
means gathers the herring eggs. The
whitefsh eggs are obtained from the On
fario Game and Fisheries Department,
with which department the local hatchery
exchange eggs The Canadian waters
IN the vicinity OF Port Dover are among
the best fields for whitefsh. Many Of
this variety of fish will be planted in
Canadian waters when hatched by the
local hatchery.
with the completion OF the new hsh
hatchery at this place in July. 1914, with
a capacity OF $50, 900 eggs annually. the
Erie hatchery, is the largest battery
hatchery In the State. The plant has no
superior m the United States
The building Is of brick and steel, meas
uring 90 by so feet. II is two stories high,
with tile roof. and is absolutely hreproof.
Externally the building Is an archi-
tectural credit TO the State The house is
lighted with electricity and heated by
steam. so that work may be done at night
as wen as by day.
Finished in white, the interior of the
house is a thing Of beauty. Flowers and
plants add materially to the appearance
of the interior. AS one enters he is
struck by the apparent size of the in
terror, with, its glistening white walls.
To the right are the batteries which
n qr1Dnliad rav NJ ya tba
lake. the eggs of the fish not having
vitality enough TO hatch In treated
water.
This battery contains 500 one-gallon
jars in two tiers OF six rows each. The
water In these jars is kept in continual
motion. AS the fish are hatched they
pass from the jars to the battery troughs
and thence into a large receiving tank.
From there they go through a set OF
u two-inch pipes into the 13 frypans on
the opposite side OF the hatchery. They
are kept in these pans until ready to
be planted In the lake.
CAPACITY OF STATION.
During the Matching season II Is possi-
bic to study the process Of incubation
from the egg stage until the little fish
emerge ready to face life in the waters
OF the lake. II is possible to handle.
with the present facilities. 100000 white
nsh eggs of the largest size and 430 900
blue pike eggs OF the smallest size.
In addition to these two varieties, lake
herring, wall-eyed pike. better known on
the lake shore as yellow pike. and yell
low perch are hatched at this station
Everything from this hatchery is
planted as soon as II is Matched. In fact
Il would be impossible to hold them. so
rapidly do the. FISH emerge from the eggs
There are times when they come out by
the millions in "a hours 1t would be
impossible to supply the fish with food.
even If 1t were known what food they re-
quire.
y Commercially, the department attend
ing to this work is the most important,
and while great amount of interest is
shown In II. the visitor is, to a greater
extent. taken with the aquarium. main
tained on the second floor of the build
ing. There are IA large aquariums.
wherein are displayed the native fish OF
Pennsylvania. Panels of foreign fish have
been placed in the walls near these aqua
RUINS. In addition to the large aqua
RUINS there are II sidewall and six
fountain displays.
LARGEST IN WORLD.
As the fishing industry is one of the
largest in this city, the Erie Fish Hatch
cry holds an important place in this COM
munity. Erie is the largest fresh-water
fsh market in the world. 10000 tons OF
FISH being shipped from this port yearly.
At times the tugs will put into the port
with catches averaging $50 tons.
Although greatly hampered by lack of
funds, the local station has done consid-
cradle work in dredging a series OF ponds
on Presque Isle Peninsula To date two
miles OF these ponds. which are the great
est natural spawning and rearing grounds
for fish In the United States, have been
dredged. For the planting of the fish the
station uses the Commodore Perry" the
State Fisheries Department tug. Phil H.
Hartman is the superintendent In charge
OF the local plant
The Erie station planted 10000. 900 fish
IN local waters last season. When the
local house has an oversupply of eggs.
which is often the case, the surplus is
shipped to the stations at Union City or
TO Philadelphia. When hatched. these
fish are shipped back 10 Erie and then
planted In the lake.