Project Titles:

• Connect Water Supply Well (FFS #R5RA)
• Rehabilitate Fish Ponds 5, 6, 7 (FFS #R5QJ, R5QK, R5QL)
• Rehabilitate Fish Pool D (FFS #R5QH)
• Rehabilitate Fish Pool 2, 3, 7, 8 (FFS #R5QD, R5QE, R5QF, R5QG)

State: Massachusetts

Project Description: Nine projects at the North Attleboro National Fish Hatchery in North Attleboro, Massachusetts were undertaken to help ensure that the facility will remain fully functional for years to come and, possibly, increase its fish-rearing capabilities.

The hatchery has been in operation since 1950, committed to reconditioning wild Atlantic salmon so they can be used as broodstock to help recover the depleting species. As of February 2010, well 4 was the only fully operational well able to feed water into the hatchery. Water from well 4 also had to be treated and monitored due to high levels of iron and manganese, which are harmful to the captive fish.

When a new water supply well, well 6, was drilled, the Service lacked the funds necessary to connect the well to the hatchery. The well water was tested to be up to hatchery standards, and the Service utilized Recovery Act funds to connect the well to the hatchery. Well 4 was taken off-line and will be used only as an emergency back up. HDR Engineering, an Omaha, Nebraska based employee-owned company, received a $15,634 contract to complete electrical design work, and Geotech Environmental Services, located in Barrington, Illinois, was awarded $227,800 to carry out the well connection. This work will save the Service a significant amount of money on electricity and water treatment. The work was completed in October 2010.

“This is going to make a huge difference for this facility,” Project Coordinator Larry Lofton said in February 2010. “It’s going to set us up, probably for the next 25 years, to have an adequate water supply, which is a very, very big thing.”

Additional funds were made available to provide for major rehabilitation projects and work opportunities for local small businesses.

The fish production pools at North Attleboro hold Atlantic salmon at various stages of development. These concrete structures are coated with an epoxy to enhance their durability, allow for easy maintenance, and, most importantly, provide a smooth surface for the fish that protects them from abrasion and injury. Over time, this coating has peeled, cracked and pulled away from the concrete at some of the pools at the facility. John W. Egan Co. Inc., from Newton, Massachusetts, was awarded a contract for $71,544 to resurface four of the fish production pools. The work on the fish production pools was completed in March 2011. They also resurfaced Fish Brood Pool D, used to hold some of North Attleboro’s adult brood stock, finishing in September 2011.

Finally, Barbato Construction Co. Inc., from Middleboro, Massachusetts, was awarded $61,000 to rehabilitate three of the facility’s fish rearing ponds, some of which had been out of use for over a decade. Most of the work, completed in November 2010, consisted of replacing water delivery lines, which fell into a state of disrepair. These ponds could now be used to culture river herring for use in new restoration efforts in the Bungay and Ten-Mile River watershed made possible by dam removals.

Video: North Attleboro National Fish Hatchery — Interview with Larry Lofton
Check out the following video in which Project Coordinator Larry Lofton is interviewed!

This page was created by Keith Shannon, student intern for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Northeast Region, whose position is funded by the Recovery Act.

Originally posted 02/16/2010
Updated 04/07/2010
Updated 06/09/2010
Updated 06/17/2010
Updated 05/17/2011
Page Completed 12/08/2011