Excavators arrived at Bobby N. Setzer State Fish Hatchery on May 6 to begin renovations on a new 137,000-square-foot facility.
Trout stocking activities will be significantly reduced until January 2028 when the new state-of-the-art facility will come online. The majority of the current facility, including the hatchery building and raceways, will be demolished and replaced in their current footprint. The US$47 million project is being led by McGill.
State-of-the-art design and equipment will result in a more efficient use of water throughout the facility. Additional flood resiliency will be incorporated into the facility design. Raceways will be covered to reduce water temperatures for trout which will improve water quality in the facility and in the Davidson River.
“The Setzer Fish Hatchery is both a renovation project as well as an increase in production project,” Kyle Seaman, McGill project manager, said in a company statement. “It is exceeding its original capacity right now, so we will be helping increase its capacity. This will improve the quality of production and allow for a more consistent, reliable source of fish.”
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission’s (NCWRC) other primary trout hatchery, Armstrong State Fish Hatchery, will be restored from Hurricane Helene and will provide most of the trout stocked. The Marion and Table Rock state fish hatcheries will also support trout production efforts during construction. NCWRC said they are also working to purchase trout from private facilities.
Setzer Fish Hatchery has been in operation since the late 1950s, originally as the Pisgah National Fish Hatchery. The NCWRC has operated it as a state fish hatchery since 1983, and it is the NCWRC’s largest trout hatchery.