Scenes from Massachusetts Aquaculture

 
         
 
 
 
Berkshire Fish Hatchery, Monterey MA, grows Atlantic salmon in support of the Connecticut River Restoration Project, as well as rainbow trout and brown trout.
The hatchery is owned by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and is operated by the Berkshire Fish Hatchery Foundation, a group of community volunteers.
 
 
 
 
rainbow trout brood stock
brown trout fingerlings
  
 
 
  Collecting eggs at a community spawning event in the fall.   Trout and salmon eggs are hatched trays supplied with fresh spring water.  
     
  Rainbow trout spawning stock   Fishing Derby at the Berkshire Hatchery  
 
 
 
  Newly hatched Atlantic salmon fry with egg sacs   1 year old Atlantic salmon fry  
         
 
 
 
Michael's Wholesale Bait, Springfield, MA
Some baitfish are imported from the midwest.
 
         
 
 
 
Four Star Farms in Northfield MA, dug three ponds in 2006, to start growing largemouth bass.
Cages protect the first year's bass fingerlings
  
 
 
    Further work at Four Star Farms has included indoor envronmentally controlled rooms to manipulate temperture and daylength to induce spawning earlier than in the wild.  A large indoor spawning tank (left) accomodates a number of breeding bass.  
         
 
 
 
Australis Aquaculture, Turners Falls, MA is the largest aquaculture facility in New England.

The current facility has 20 tanks, each half the size of the central tank in the Boston Aquarium.

 
 
 
 
Australis specializes in growing barramundi, or Asian sea bass. Larval fish are flown from Australia to the U.S.  The company is researching spawning techniques.
 
         
 
 
 
Pond at Great Swamp Farm, Amherst MA for growing hybrid striped bass.
Cage culture at Wiining Aquaculture, Gardner MA
 
         
 
 
 
Double M Cranberries, Rochester MA.  The bog was partitioned to provde a filter system for aquaculture, removing and digesting waste.
Fish are held in pens in a predator proof shelter at one end of the bog and water is moved by a large paddle wheel to circulate water through the bog.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Blue Streams, Barnstable MA - Trout were grown at this site 150 years ago
Ground water flows from pipes set in the ground through the trout runs.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Young brook trout. Note the water inlet pipe.
  
         
 
 
 

E & T Farms, West Barnstable includes a newly constructed aquaponics system.

  Effluent from raceways fertilizes plants in the greenhouse.
 
 
     
 
 
 
Raceways for trout and bass.
 
 
 
 
This raceway holds 3000 bass.
Two tilapia tanks hold 5,000 young tilapia
 
   
 
 
 
Tom Orsillo of Gloucester MA has incorporated bullhead into an integrated aquaponics system.   
         
     
  Revision House in Dorchester supports an urban farm including greenhouses with aquaponics      
     
  Harvesting fish at Revision House   Revision House tilapia  
         
     
  Heifer International has agricultural projects around the world. Examples of these are demonstated at Overlook Farm in Rutland, MA   The greenhouse containing the aquaponic system  
     
  Tilapia tank at Rutland Farm Basil is grown on a plastic float, fertilized by tilapia effluent.  
   
   
  MA state hatchery on Hatchery Road, Montague raises over 100,000 brown and rainbow trout   Trout are raised in ponds and raceways  
     
         
     
  MA state hatchery off Route 9, just east of Belchertown, MA      
     
      Rainbow trout (top) and Brook trout (lower) brood stock.  
       
 
   
  Recirculating system at Mt. Everett High School, Sheffield MA

Mt. Everett High School aquaculture class ‘05-‘06

 
     
  Vaccinating Atlantic salmon at Cronin Salmon Station, Sunderland, a cooperative research project of USGS, USFWS and UMass Extension  

Observers of experimental procedures at Cronin Salmon Station

 
     
  Raising largemouth bass at the fish barn at Essex Agricultural and Technical High School in Hathorne, MA
   A student aquaponics project at UMass Amherst:lettuce and goldfish