Fish Hatchery Technicians Have A Variety of Duties

The very first fishery program in the United States was implemented on February 9, 1871. This was the predecessor to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Fishery Program. The name of this early program was the U. S. Fish Commission. Congress established it in order to determine the cause of the decreasing commercial fish population and other aquatic animals in U. S. coastal and inland waters. The program also included a mandate for restoration of these animals, provided a solution to the problem could be found.

The fact that the United States needed a program in place as early as the late eighteen-hundreds in order to re-populate a decreasing fish population makes one wonder what would have happened if Congress hadn't gotten concerned enough to intervene. Nowadays, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has in place 70 national fish hatcheries all over the United States, dedicated to the purpose of protecting, conserving and replenishing our national fish population.

Who takes care of all these fish? Who feeds, breeds, raises, and hatches fish for a living? These duties belong to a group of people known as fish hatchery technicians. The job is never dull, but is extremely smelly. If you've ever visited a fish hatchery, you know the first thing that hits you is the smell. Each tank holds literally hundreds of fish and most of the time, visitors have a difficult time spending more than a few minutes at a time around the tanks. The technicians at a fish hatchery are there for 8 hours a day, sometimes more. According to one worker, "If you work here, you don't notice it so much, but when you go home, your family members can't stand the smell of you until after you've showered."

In addition to feeding, breeding, hatching and raising fish, hatchery technicians are often called upon to do more menial work, such as cleaning tanks, driving large trucks full of fish tanks to and from lakes and rivers to re-populate, or even giving guided tours of the hatchery. However, most of the work the technicians do is crucial to the conservation of the fish population in the United States. Technicians must keep accurate records of breeding and production, and collect and maintain lots of data. In other words, there's a lot of paperwork involved in this career.

Fish hatchery technicians usually make a decent wage though, and since most jobs are government positions, the benefits are among the best you'll find. It doesn't take long to advance, either, and it's not rocket science, so you don't have to be brilliant to be able to perform this job. You do, however, need to be dedicated to the service of fish production and conservation and you have to be flexible enough to do what needs to be done. All in all, it's a great career for someone who wants to make decent money, plus contribute to the environment.