Hatchery design

The spectrum of disciphnes that are part of hatchery design, construction and management illustrate the many areas that can be used for education. Existing programs that provide in situ and hands-on experience have demonstrated strong reinforcement in learning, as will be discussed later. Among the disciphnes inherent to hatchery education are ... 

Public sector hatcheries may be designated for research and/or production. The former are often affiliated with academic institutions or state and federal agencies where they are used to answer scientific queries about a species and to acquire information about its fife-cycle and nutritional requirements. Public production hatcheries may also provide animals for restoration or enhancement stocking. The practice of using aquaculture to produce food has been around for 3(XX) years by comparison, the production of aquatic animals for use as a means to restore depleted populations or, more recently, ecosystems is a relatively new field. Enhancement production is typified by governmental fish hatcheries that raise and distribute... 

Many fish hatcheries not only produce animals for restoration or commercial purposes, but they serve as a valuable educational resource for the conservation community. This is especially true for many government hatcheries. However, often these facilities do not have the resources to adequately fund the educational component of the operation. Many were built before the environmental movement took hold in the 1970s and were not designed to conduct educational programs. Therefore, some of these hatcheries work cooperatively with other local environmental and educational groups to address the educational components. If properly organized, this can be a benefit to both the educational community and the hatchery. 

The design, construction, and operation of fish and shellfish hatcheries are multi-disciplinary enterprises. Some of the disciplines are quite apparent to those who operate hatcheries, such as the need for biological knowledge about the animals being produced, but others may only become apparent when the hatchery is viewed as a total operation. In the private sector, for instance, business practices relating to the production, marketing, and sale of the product are important and affect the overall success of the business as an operating enterprise. 

This is a description of Gently Down the Seymour , a field trip program designed to give elementary school students hands-on experience both in the field and in a salmon hatchery. 

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