Posted by:
James Hathaway
Date: 09/01/11
The destruction to homes, bridges and roads across Vermont in the wake of Hurricane Irene has been extreme. (You can see video of the famed Battenkill flooding its banks in a video by our own Phil Monahan here).
On GoFishn, I just read that up to 80,000 trout were lost at theThe Vermont State Fish Hatchery in Roxbury, Vermont. These were fish set to be released into the state's rivers and streams in 2012.
From the Times Argus:
As Whalen [supervisor of the hatchery station] walked through the debris-filled, seven-acre area, he pointed to where there had been five ponds and drainage brooks used to raise brook and rainbow trout, which would have been used to stock many of Vermont’s rivers and streams in 2012.
“The buildings are old and tough and didn’t really sustain much damage,” Whalen said.
“I’m sure some of (the fish) made their way to the Third Branch,” Whalen said, referring to the branch of the White River.
Whalen said he and the two other full-time staff were able to capture as many as 10,000 fish and contain them in one of the ponds that had a section of open water, but many of the fish were left to die as the water receded and small pools the fish were in dried up.
Read the rest of the story here.