10 The Work Force May 2015 Springtime is busy for DEC PULASKI — The arrival of spring not only brings the melting of ice in the state’s waterways, it heralds the start of a busy season for CSEA members working in the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), including those who work to support the state’s multi-billion dollar sport fishing tourism industry. At the Salmon River Fish Hatchery in Oswego County, CSEA Environmental Conservation Field Local members are busy jump-starting the spawning process, pulling mature steelhead out of the Salmon River, sorting them into males and females, gently squeezing the eggs from the females and then fertilizing them with milt squeezed from the males. The adult fish are then returned to the water unharmed. Meanwhile, millions of salmon fingerlings, about 3 to 5 inches long, are continuing to grow in tanks for release later in the year to eventually make their way into Lake Ontario. On the other end of the spectrum, CSEA members working at the Rome Fish Hatchery in Oneida County are busy taking brown and brook trout yearlings, six to nine inches long, out from their tanks, loading them into trucks, and driving them to streams and creeks to be stocked throughout seven central and northern New York counties. It’s a cycle of life that Mother Nature invented, one that’s been perfected by the dedicated DEC workers who keep the cycle going to the delight of any angler who’s lucky enough to catch one of the fish the workers helped grow. Recreational fishing has a huge economic impact in New York – accounting for an estimated $110 million annually in state and local taxes alone. — Mark M. Kotzin Mature steelhead who swam up the “fish ladder” that connects the hatchery to the Salmon River are brought out of the water in an elevator cage and slide down a metal chute to be sorted by the CSEA members into males and females. After determining its gender, Fish Culturist II David Domachowske tosses a fish into the appropriate tank, one for males and one for females. Laborer Ernie Schmidt uses a screen to “crowd” the brown trout down to the end of their holding tank, where a vacuum pump pulls them out of the tank and into a waiting tanker truck. Fish Culturist I John Draper displays a yearling brown trout that’s about to be stocked. 1 2 6 5
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