Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 38
Union City State Fish Hatchery
Building Up Mussels
photos-PFBC archives
by Scott Ray
Union City State Fish Hatchery
and Nevin Welte
Natural Diversity Section
Over 100 years after the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat
Commission (PFBC) first dipped its toes into freshwater
mussel conservation, it is now diving into efforts to culture
and restore North America's most imperiled group of animals.
Nearly 75% of Pennsylvania's mussels are considered Species
of Greatest Conservation Need, threatened, or endangered.
Conservation actions are urgently needed to prevent species
extinctions, further declines, and recover historically impaired
streams and rivers. A dedicated staff and facility, combined
with determination, a little ingenuity, and new technology are
what is required to culture this at-risk group of animals. The
PFBC's mussel culture program at the Union City State Fish
Hatchery (UCSFH), Erie County, is the agency's response to
this challenge.
A brief history
Despite UCSFH's unique location in the French Creek
watershed-one of just a few remaining hotspots of freshwater
mussel diversity in North America-the UCSFH was not
PFBC's first foray into mussel culture. That distinction belongs
to the agency's obscure Spruce Creek Hatchery, established in
Huntingdon County in 1905. The agency and this particular
38
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * September/October 2020
Newly imported Round Hickorynut mussels
hatchery had ambitious commercial mussel production
aspirations that aligned with the times-noted conservationists
such as Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot were
promoting conservation, or the "wise use" of natural resources,
for the "lasting good" of humankind. Starting in 1908 and
1909, the agency had sought to restore the collapsed-but
lucrative-freshwater pearl fishery and to develop a market
for Pennsylvania mussels for use in the commercial button
industry. These early ambitions died quickly with the closure
of the Spruce Creek Hatchery in 1913, following devastating
floods and the advent of cultured pearl technology and plastics.
The UCSFH-also constructed in 1905-was originally
built as a warmwater/coolwater hatchery with a focus on
black bass. Fish culture has endured at the UCSFH, and
until recently, the hatchery was focused primarily on the
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020
Contents
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - Cover1
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - Cover2
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - Contents
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 4
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 5
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 6
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 7
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 10
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 11
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 12
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 13
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 17
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 18
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 21
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 38
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - 41
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - Cover3
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - September/October 2020 - Cover4
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