Senator Lamar Alexander on Monday joined Bill Johnson, president and CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Ed Carter, executive director of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), Mike Oetker, deputy regional director for the Southeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and Jeff Durniak with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to announce an agreement that is a permanent solution to keep the Erwin National Fish Hatchery in Erwin, Tn.
and the Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery in Celina, Tn. open beyond 2016.
“Nearly 900,000 Tennesseans and visitors buy fishing and hunting licenses each year," Senator Alexander said. "This means that the federal fish hatcheries in Erwin, Dale Hollow and Georgia will continue to provide each year to Tennessee rivers and lakes the more than 1 million fish that make our trout fishing some of the best in the country. TVA will support the hatcheries in the same way that the Army Corps of Engineers does when it replaces fish killed by dams on the Cumberland River and in the same way the Bonneville Power Administration supports replacing fish on the Columbia and Snake Rivers.
“Last Wednesday, I met with Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe, who said that TVA’s support makes possible a permanent solution to keep the hatcheries open. This is also good news for the businesses that create jobs and depend on fishing in Tennessee."
“On behalf of all anglers who fish Tennessee waters, our agency is deeply appreciative of Senator Alexander’s leadership and his working relationships with TVA, the USFWS and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources that bring us here today,” Mr. Carter said. “Insuring the continuation of trout hatchery operations supplying our streams and tailwaters is very comforting to me. I’m elated that, with this agreement, the economic benefit to all Tennesseans and the fantastic angling opportunities these vital fisheries provide will continue.”
In 2013, Senator Alexander worked to help reach a three-year agreement to keep the Erwin National Fish Hatchery in Erwin and the Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery in Celina open while TVA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and federal and state wildlife agencies formed a working group to come up with a permanent solution.
The agreement with TVA also supports the Chattahoochee National Fish Hatchery in Suches, Ga.
More than 256,000 anglers are estimated to fish for trout in Tennessee and Georgia waters each year, spending about $73 for every $1 invested in the hatchery program and producing an economic impact of about $45 million.