I’m currently the primary fish culturist for warm water sport-fish production in the state of Illinois. Little Grassy Fish Hatchery is one of three state hatcheries which breeds, rears and stocks channel catfish, blue catfish, largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, and red ear sunfish for use in all state-maintained waters of Illinois. Being the oldest sport-fish hatchery in Illinois, my initial years here have been focused on incorporating modern rearing techniques and infrastructure while staying within budget and labor constraints of the hatchery. My notable achievements in these first two years here have included a historical record number of blue catfish reared in my first year. In my second year, the dam which held our water source was deemed “in need of repair”, in response to the lake being drained, I was solely responsible for designing and implementing three separate RAS systems in order to continue sport-fish production at Little Grassy.
The first year we lost 500,000 more fry than the previous year. However, because of the pristine quality of the RAS egg system water, the increased egg survival offset this loss of fry; and every site stocking request was fulfilled completely. I suppose we received a little bit of luck for trying to keep the operation going with just six months to plan, design, and build three RAS systems. It is my hope to continue improving and learning from the challenges of Little Grassy while the dam is being repaired. In the end, I hope to run my own fish and organic vegetable farm, which can more effectively serve and interact with the public to support a more healthy-happy community.