State budget feeds fish hatchery fixes

Jul. 16—PLATTE RIVER — Years of deferred maintenance at Michigan Department of Natural Resources' fish hatcheries added up to more than just worn concrete in the races, outdated pumps, leaking roofs and high electricity bills.

Reinvesting in fish-rearing setups throughout the state could improve survival rates of hatchery fish, said Ed Eisch, the DNR's statewide fish production program manager. Much of the work isn't flashy, like replacing asphalt and some past-due roof replacements at Platte River State Fish Hatchery.

Others aim to shore up fish production to keep the tiny creatures more healthy, Eisch said. That will include ultraviolet disinfection of river water coming in from Platte River.

"It's nothing that's going to increase production, actually, but it's going to secure production and hopefully result in some more robust fish being stocked as a result of it," he said.

That's the plan for $30 million in the state's latest budget, the DNR announced. Another $4 million will replace the 54-year-old aquatic survey vessel Steelhead, a converted commercial trawler based in Charlevoix.

The bill passed both chambers of the state Legislature with bipartisan support. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a DNR release touted the investment in fisheries, atop a previous $450 million boost to parks and public lands she previously approved.

Eisch said the DNR is looking to catch up on deferred maintenance across all six of its hatcheries, even its newest in Oden. That hatchery dates from 2002 but others are decidedly older.

Harrietta State Fish Hatchery, while the oldest still in operation, mostly dates from 1979 when it was rebuilt, said Jon Jackoviak, the hatchery's natural resources manager.

Hatcheries at Platte River and Harrietta share a link beyond the department running them. Eisch said fish hatched at Harrietta, which opened in 1901, were shipped to the Platte River facility until they reached stocking size. That was until the state consolidated a hatchery system once spread across numerous hatcheries and satellite rearing ponds in the 1960s.

Around the same time, the DNR began its Pacific salmon stocking program at Platte River, as previously reported. It was a consequential decision for the upper Great Lakes and a shift in emphasis by the department from commercially fished species to recreationally caught ones.

Now, Jackoviak and the Harrietta crew raise brown and rainbow trout plus Atlantic salmon, he said. The rainbows are destined for inland lakes and streams, while a large sum of the browns get stocked in Lake Michigan. Atlantic salmon raised there are Lake Huron-bound.

Platte River raises coho and chinook salmon, both of which are Pacific types, Eisch said. The facility also raises Atlantic salmon and processes walleye eggs, while walleye hatchlings spend some growing time in various ponds across the state.

Top priorities there include sandblasting the concrete raceways and refinishing them with an epoxy coating.

That should last longer than the paint hatchery staff apply every four to five years, Jackoviak said. He agreed the replacement finish costs more up front but should benefit operations over the next 15 to 20 years.

"When you look at everything it's going to help with disease issues, so you don't have to treat as much and save on chemicals for treatment," he said. "So in the big picture, yes, it's going to be very beneficial for us."

Same goes for Platte River State Hatchery, where water has eroded the concrete fines on the raceways' surfaces and left the aggregate exposed, said Paul Stowe, natural resources manager at the hatchery. That creates plenty of little pockets and pores where bacteria thrive and form a stubborn slime coat.

Bacteria leading to fish health issues is one thing, while at Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery near Kalamazoo, young muskellunge are swimming in the basement of a circa-1930s building, Eisch said. So the facility is getting a new cool water production facility for muskie and walleye.

Separating those fish from a building that also houses salmon and steelhead — as Great Lakes rainbow trout that spawn upstream are called — should solve a host of biosecurity issues, according to the DNR.

Then there's electrical needs at the various hatcheries.

Jackoviak said the Harrietta facility already has plenty of upgrades to cut its electricity bill, including variable frequency drives that pump water more efficiently. Even with those upgrades and a good rate from Consumers Energy, the bill can still total roughly $120,000 a year.

Other than wages, electricity and fish food are the two largest budget items at Harrietta, Jackoviak said. He hopes to redirect some of that money to other needs at the hatchery once it's generating some of its own power.

Platte River should get those same high-efficiency pumps and some new backup generators, while the facility's power distribution system largely dates back to its 1974 opening, Stowe said. Not only are the components showing their age, but the hatchery is preparing for nearly 100 kilowatts of solar generation.

Eisch said state lawmakers set aside $3 million in a previous state budget to build solar arrays at five of six hatcheries — Marquette's location makes solar impractical there.

At Harrietta, around 800 photovoltaic panels will power everything but the variable frequency drives, Jackoviak said.

While plans for the solar panels are all but certain, rising construction costs have thrown some doubt over just how much the DNR can build or refurbish for $34 million.

Eisch agreed the department isn't immune to the inflationary pressures that have plagued construction projects across the state, even stopping some in their tracks. His specialty is raising fish en masse, not economics, but he hopes the Federal Reserve's increase to interest rates could slow demand on new construction and possibly curb rising building costs.

As is, the plan is to budget the money based on which projects claim higher priority, Eisch said. The total ought to account for inflationary uncertainty, and should cover most of what the hatcheries need. The department has a few years to spend it after the new budget year starts Oct. 1.

Lawmakers allocating more than the $25 million the DNR originally figured for hatchery work was a pleasant surprise, Jackoviak said.

"I've been here 28 years and I've never seen a situation where we request $25 million and the Legislature says, 'Well, here's some more,'" he said.