Raising Some Fun at the Oldest Fish Hatchery

First posted on 09-12-2008

Take an opportunity to visit the Neosho National Fish Hatchery and the first thing you are likely to notice is the enthusiasm and genuine likability of hatchery manager Dave Hendrix. This is a guy who absolutely loves what he does. From raising fish to giving tours to the public, Hendrix knows his business and enjoys sharing that knowledge.

We toured the hatchery on a very rainy day as Gustav, a tropical storm by the time it reached southwest Missouri, made its slow progression northward. But Hendrix did not seem to mind the rain at all as he showed us around the nation’s oldest operating fish hatchery. “This is the best job in the world,” Hendrix said with a wide grin. And you know he means it.

Built in 1888 at a site where a ready supply of gravity-fed spring water was plentiful and a railroad spur existed that enabled rapid shipment of fish to the Rocky Mountain states, Neosho was an ideal location. Today, the hatchery still makes use of the clean, clear spring water that continues to emanate at a flow rate of around 1600 gallons per minute, but the rail shipments have given way to specialized trucks that take nearly a quarter million rainbow trout a year to Lake Taneycomo.

In addition to raising trout, Neosho also rears Pallid Sturgeon for re-stocking into the Missouri River. Plus, the hatchery has a pond stocked with drum in an effort to study an endangered species of native mussel, and it both protects and provides education about Ozarks Cave Fish. The Cave Fish were actually discovered in an underground spring system on the site back in 1989. Today, a camera continually checks in on the Cave Fish and a monitor set up in the visitors’ center lets people look in on the unusual species.

Hendrix took us around the hatchery building first and described how the hatchery raises trout that are shipped in FedEx as fertilized eggs from an operation in Montana.

“The eggs come to us just twenty-four hours after they leave,” Hendrix said. “They come in a specially designed container that has a layer of ice, trays of trout eggs and an absorbent sponge on the bottom to collect the water that comes from melting ice. That process keeps the eggs moist during the trip.” There are about 10,000 trout eggs in each tray.

From there, the eggs get a quick bath in iodine as a disease and infection control process, then get immersed into cold spring water. The hatchery team adds oxygen to the water to help the fish and keep production levels high. “We have very little loss at all,” Hendrix told us.

Trout are born with a yolk sac, but that diminishes in about seven days and when it does, the fish are hungry. Trout are fed every hour in the beginning days of production to get them used to the feeding process. The young trout grow quickly, about an inch a month, and as they do they get moved to one of three races before being shipped out at about 10 inches in length.

The Pallid Sturgeon project is a rescue operation as much as it is a fish raising operation. Pallid Sturgeon are native to the Missouri River, but changes to the river system that aid in flood control and navigation disturb the sturgeon’s habitat and make it difficult for them to survive. So, the Army Corps of Engineers teamed up with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation to help improve fish survivability.

Small fry, about three to four inches in length, are brought to Neosho where they are raised on a diet of bloodworms until they get up to about nine inches long. At that point, the sturgeon are tagged with a small chip coded with information that will allow fish biologists to learn more about how far they travel and their general health. Then, they are released back into the Missouri River.

The hatchery has always been a favorite among Neosho residents and the site attracts about 45,000 visitors each year. “We have a great relationship with the community,” Hendrix said. Hatchery personnel give tours on request and often have groups of school children and adults stop by.

There is a one third mile walking path meandering through the grounds and several benches are set up so visitors can help themselves to the tranquil setting. “We even opened up the races [where trout are housed] and provide food so people can stop by and feed them anytime,” according to Hendrix. He said the hatchery grounds are open all night to foot traffic for anyone who would like to come by.

“The first Friday of June, we hold a youth fishing derby,” Hendrix told us. “We get about three hundred kids attending and have around sixty volunteers from the community help us out.”

The hatchery also hosts several fishing events for the elderly and nursing home residents during the summer months. “We stock nineteen inch trout in our pond, supply all the tackle and bait and have a cookout afterward,” Hendrix explained with a big smile. Hendrix said he really enjoys being a part of the community and having an opportunity to give something back to all the great people he has met.

The hatchery is located at 520 East Park Street in Neosho and signs point the way there from major highways headed into town. It’s best to give Hendrix or one of the other hatchery folks a call first so they can be sure to have someone available to give a tour. Of course, visitors are always welcome to go through the facility themselves as well. Normal operating hours are from 8:00am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday.