TWRA Fish Hatcheries

Fish Hatchery Management and History

Fish stocking is an important management tool in Tennessee and helps us support the wide variety of fishing experiences available to anglers here. TWRA owns and operates a total of nine hatcheries located throughout the state.   

Trout are reared from the egg stage and grown out to catchable size (8-12") to be stocked into tailwaters, streams, and reservoirs.   Warm/cool water facilities produce a variety of species, including crappie, striped bass, walleye, sauger, sunfish, catfish, and bass.   Most fish produced are stocked into large reservoirs, but warmwater species are also produced for stocking family fishing lakes, streams, and ponds.

Producing fish is costly, and it is important to minimize the cost of production while maximizing the survival of the fish.   Using limited hatchery production space wisely means that careful attention must be paid to what sizes fish are stocked and the time of year that will ensure the best survival.   Different species are spawned and grown out over different periods of the year, which means that the production season on many stations is extended throughout much of the year.

Hatchery managers must monitor factors affecting fish survival, such as pond water quality, fertility, and food availability, to ensure that their fingerlings or stock-size fish survive. Construction and maintenance on each facility's ponds, plumbing, electrical network, and tank systems are also ongoing projects to which hatchery personnel are dedicated.