Several Michigan Department of Natural Resources fish hatcheries in Northern Michigan will be improved thanks to $30 million from the 2023 state general fund budget.
The DNR says some of these sites have only seen limited updates or upgrades since the late 1970s.
Marquette State Fish Hatchery in Marquette County – houses brood stock for brook trout, lake trout and Arctic grayling programs, and stocks brook trout, lake trout and splake in Michigan waters.
$3.5 million in improvements include a new roof on the hatchery building and a new energy-efficient boiler, as well as updated heating, ventilation and air conditioning controls in 2024. A new brood-isolation building will be built to replace the current crumbling structure. Leveling of settling concrete around the facility to improve accessibility will cap off the 2025 projects. Finally, in 2026, the facility will be completely repaved.
Oden State Fish Hatchery in Emmet County – houses brood stock for brown and rainbow trout programs, and stocks brown and rainbow trout in Michigan waters.
$2.6 million in improvements include a Parshall flume for measuring discharge flow, and 2023 well-reclamation work were supported through this funding allocation.
Repairing and repaving the hatchery visitor center parking lot and infrastructure maintenance for the building and a historic fish railcar are taking center stage at Oden in 2024. A new domestic well for the drum screen building will improve effluent management in 2024.
In 2025, a much-needed new disinfection station will be constructed, to improve biosecurity for fish-stocking trucks coming on-site following stocking trips. The main hatchery building will get modifications to the roof and new siding that is better suited for the climate conditions of the region.
In 2026, workers will be repaving the trails, roads and entryways as well as filling cracks and sealing the asphalt around the hatchery, brood and raceway buildings. The Oden and Platte River hatcheries have similar automated fish-feeding systems that are both being upgraded with new controls and feed-delivery options using the current infrastructure for those systems.
Platte River State Fish Hatchery in Benzie County – stocks Atlantic, Chinook and coho salmon in Michigan waters. Additionally, the Platte River facility produces walleye fry for the DNR’s walleye program.
$6 million in improvements include stabilizing the Lower Platte River Weir and installing new roofs on the administration, hatchery and service buildings.
In 2024, resurfacing concrete maturation ponds built in the 1960s, for holding return adult coho salmon, and replacing a backup generator and associated electrical distribution from the same era are scheduled to be completed.
For 2025, projects will include shoring up the exteriors, including doors and windows, damaged by previous poor roof conditions and age of buildings that received new roofs in 2023.
Finally in 2026, the facility will be repaved, and pavement will be added to and from the pull-through-style truck storage barn at the lower weir.
Harrietta State Fish Hatchery in Wexford County – stocks Atlantic salmon, brown trout and rainbow trout in Michigan waters.
$3.5 million in improvements include repaving the facility. A new backup generator, electrical distribution panels, aeration pumps with variable frequency drives, boiler and two new backup generators at production wells will bring Harrietta up to speed with new energy-efficient electrical systems in 2024.
A new truck storage building for stocking trucks, resurfacing concrete raceways and a new automated fish-feeding system will round out the projects scheduled for 2025. No new projects for the Harrietta facility are anticipated in 2026 as the repaving was completed this past year, although some repaving projects may continue into 2026.
