Virus prompts DEC to close Connetquot River hatcheryBY BILL BLEYER|bill.bleyer@newsday.com
September 17, 2008
In a move stirring controversy in the recreational fishing community, a historic Connetquot River fish hatchery will be shut down for several years to eradicate a persistent virus in trout.
Fly fishermen are divided over whether the action, dictated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, is necessary. Some agree it is needed to keep the virus from spreading. Others call it overkill because the disease doesn't affect humans and closing the hatchery will result in fewer fish to catch.
Historic hatcheryThere has been a hatchery on the Connetquot River for 144 years. The current facility dates to 1890, Connetquot River State Park Preserve manager Gilbert Bergen said. In late 2006, DEC tests found fish in the hatchery and river were contaminated with infectious pancreatic necrosis, which kills large numbers of young trout. The hatchery was the only one in the state where the virus was detected.
After the testing, the DEC developed regulations that prohibit stocking infected fish in waterways after the end of this year. After the park killed 150,000 baby trout last year in an unsuccessful attempt to eliminate the virus, the DEC decided not to renew its permit, forcing the hatchery to close by Dec. 31.
The department is allowing fish already growing in ponds around the hatchery to be placed in the river for fishermen to catch. And in the coming years, the park will be able to purchase disease-free fish to directly stock the river.
While the hatchery is closed, however, park officials say there will be fewer fish in the river than there are now, in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
Charles Guthrie, the DEC's regional freshwater fisheries manager, said it would be "catastrophic" if the disease spread.
"The Carmans River, which is only 20 miles east, has the largest naturally reproducing brook trout population on Long Island," he said. "So I feel it's worth losing a little bit of fishing quality to get this river clean again so that in the future we won't have to worry about the disease."
Guthrie said unless the hatchery is replaced or reconfigured to isolate it from the river, it will take at least five years for the virus to die off.
George Gorman Jr., deputy regional director of the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said the hatchery and surrounding ponds will be disinfected next year.
The agency will follow the DEC's suggestion to hire a consultant to investigate possible fixes, especially an alternative water source for the hatchery, other than the river, to reduce chances of spreading the virus.
Guthrie said these kind of changes could allow the hatchery to reopen in less than five years.
Officials of the fishing and environmental group Trout Unlimited support the DEC action. "From a conservation standpoint, it's the right thing to do," said Jeff Plackis of Rockville Centre, a member of the group's New York State Council.
George Costa of Mastic Beach, president of the Artflick Chapter of Trout Unlimited, added, "there is still a lot of opportunity out here for fishermen to enjoy the sport of trout fishing" on the Carmans and Nissequogue rivers.
"Ill-advised" moveBut some local anglers who regularly visit the park object to the DEC action. Richard Steinberger of Oakdale criticized "this ill-advised and Draconian management 'solution.' Anglers will cease to pay $20 for four hours of unproductive fishing."
Bergen said even with fewer fish in the river next year he did not anticipate any further drop in fishing because, "I think we have [only] the hard-core fisherman now." They would continue to come to the park, he said.
Gorman said it was unlikely the hatchery would be replaced with a new facility because the entire park is on the National Register of Historic Places. The historic hatchery building, he said, serves as a conservation teaching tool for school groups.
Pretty Connetquot Brookie from '06
