Castalia fish hatchery to host open house

CASTALIA — Come see the fish.The Castalia State Fish Hatchery, 7018 Homegarder Road, and its thousands of trout will welcome visitors during an open house noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 27. It's the first open house at the facility since 2015, said Andy Jarrett, superintendent of the hatchery.Ohio has six fish hatcheries. The one is Castalia produces 450,000 steelhead trout and 90,000 rainbow trout every year. The fish, which aren't native to Ohio, are hauled in trucks to stock public lakes across Ohio, including the pond in East Harbor State Park in Ottawa County and Norwalk Reservoir in Huron County.The hatchery brings in trout eggs, disinfects them with iodine, and then hatches them in tray incubators, Jarrett said.The minnows then go into tanks before being moved into one of two "raceways," hundreds of feet long, where they are fed until they grow big enough to be released into the wild.Water to raise the fish comes from one of Castalia's four "blue holes," which taps into an underground reservoir of water. Pumps aerate the water, putting oxygen in it to sustain the fish.The hatchery has three trucks for hauling away the grown fish to their final destination and can borrow trucks from other hatcheries if need be. Each truck can hold from 8,000 to 10,000 steelhead trout and up to 3,000 of the bigger rainbow trout.The fish are taken off food for a couple of days before they are hauled away, Jarrett said, so they don't become ill from their truck rides."The fish can get seasick, just like we do," he said. "That way you don't have sick fish when you take them to the lake."A few thousand trout that don't get a truck ride and are released into Cold Creek, delighting visitors who park by a bridge at the hatchery's entrance on Homegardner Road.Jarrett, 43, Monroeville, heads a crew of five full-time workers at the hatchery, who are supplemented by one part-time worker in the spring and summer.The job tends to attract workers who, like Jarrett, enjoy the outdoors and fishing.The hatchery has been around for about 100 years. It was a private hatchery for decades, but the state bought it in 1997. It was revamped with improvements in 2012.The pumps that put oxygen in the water are vital to the wellbeing of the fish, so the hatchery has backup generators that kick in if there's a power cut.Visitors are welcome to come to the hatchery 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, reading signs that provide a self-guided tour.The cost of raising the fish is covered by fishermen.Some of the money for the fish hatcheries comes from fishing licenses, while other money comes from a tax the federal government puts on fishing equipment, Jarrett explained.Want to Go?WHAT: Castalia State Fish Hatchery open house.WHEN: Noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 27.WHERE: 7018 Homegardner Road, Castalia.ACTIVITIES: Fish hatchery employees will answer questions and show off equipment. Kids can shoot bows and arrows, and visitors will be offered bags of fish food to hand feed the trout.Andy Jarrett, superintendent of the Castalia hatchery, uses a net to scoop trout out of the water within the raceway at the hatchery on Monday, April 15, 2019.Young trout swim around in tanks within the hatchery building at the Castalia Fish Hatchery on Monday, April 15, 2019.Trout swim through the raceway at the Castalia Fish Hatchery on Monday, April 15, 2019.Trout swim in the raceway at the Castalia Fish Hatchery on Monday, April 15, 2019.Young trout swim in a tank at the Castalia Fish Hatchery on Monday, April 15, 2019.Water to raise the fish at the hatchery comes from one of CastaliaÕs four Òblue holes,Ó which taps into an underground reservoir of water. Pumps aerate the water, putting oxygen in it to sustain the fish.Trout flip out of a net at the Castalia Fish Hatchery on Monday, April 15, 2019.Tiny trout swim in tanks at the hatchery building in Castalia on Monday, April 15, 2019.Trout flop on the water as they come to the surface for food at the Castalia Fish Hatchery on Monday, April 15, 2019.