Vermont fish hatchery changes focus, looks inland

BETHEL, Vt. (AP) - The White River National Fish Hatchery is back in business five years after being severely damaged by Tropical Storm Irene.

And it is shifting its focus from restoring salmon to the Connecticut River basin to doing the same in Lake Champlain, as well as raising trout for lakes Erie and Ontario.

The Connecticut basin salmon restoration program was abandoned in 2012 due to budget cuts and the flooding and devastation at the White River hatchery.

But now the hatchery is back, culturing landlocked Atlantic salmon eggs from Lake Champlain and preparing them to stock the lake’s tributaries.

The hatchery also just began rearing lake trout for stocking in the two Great Lakes.