What happens in a hatchery?
Many people are already familiar with the idea of fish hatcheries because they have visited public trout and salmon hatcheries used to produce juveniles for release into rivers, streams, and lakes. Commercial hatcheries operate in the same way and, in fact, have been responsible for some innovations, such as development of vaccines against certain fish diseases, which are now used in public hatcheries. Hatcheries for marine fish production, such as halibut and turbot, are different from trout and salmon hatcheries only to the extent that the biology of the fish is different. When they hatch from the egg, marine fish are usually smaller than newly hatched trout and salmon and require special care in handling and feeding. Other freshwater fish, such as catfish and sturgeon, also have their special needs, but the hatchery concept is the same requiring gentle handling and feeding of delicate early life stages.
