Fish!

Most of the time, scientific facilities are locked up and difficult to get in to. I was surprised to find this was not the case at the Jordan River National Fish Hatchery near Elmira, Michigan. Anyone could just walk around and check out what was going on.

One of the buildings

My family and I decided to visit the fish hatchery on the spur of the moment as we were driving by. We saw a sign that said “Visitors Welcome” so we turned around and drove right in. You can’t go wrong with fish, right?

This fish hatchery breeds different varieties of trout to replenish fish populations in the Great Lakes. They produce about three million lake trout annually. That’s a lot of fish.

Close up.

Some fish hatcheries grow their own eggs, but this one doesn’t. It used to, but the water from the springs near Elmira (which produce 5,000 gallons of water per minute) is too warm to grow eggs successfully. Instead they ship in eggs from a broodstock facility in Wyoming through FedEx. A worker told us that during the first few weeks of development fish eggs are very delicate, and moving them could be damaging. But after a while, the eggs get tougher, and if they’re securely packed up in wet paper towels, shipping them is just fine.

The Jordan River National Fish Hatchery has three buildings for raising trout at their different stages of development. The tank room is where the eggs are hatched and the fry are raised until they reach fingerling stage. The tanks have a current in them, so all the fry face the same direction. 

After the fingerlings are big enough they’re moved to a bigger building with 80ft long raceways for the fish to swim in. 

Pretty road near the fish hatchery.

Once they reach yearling stage, the trout are moved to the final building, and then once the trout are deemed big and healthy enough, they are taken 40-60 miles out into Lake Michigan and released into the wild. Just thinking about a lake that is so big you can be on the water 60 miles away from shore blows my mind.

The nice thing about The Jordan River National Fish Hatchery is that visitors can walk around all the rooms freely. The visitor’s center, with a bathroom and hot water for tea, is open 24/7. The staff are friendly and informative. Overall I give the place a five star rating.

Lake Michigan is also nearby

Right by The Jordan River National Fish Hatchery is a scenic road that goes right by the Jordan River. It is so beautiful I seriously thought I was in fairy land.