Official Site of The State of New Jersey
110 Years of the Hackettstown State Fish Hatchery
Superintendents of the Hackettstown Fish Hatchery
Pike in Passaic River Article Updated for 2020
Netting Fish At the Hackettstown Hatchery (Facebook LIVE, 10/11/17)
New Jersey’s Other Hatchery – app.com feature, video
The Charles O. Hayford State Fish Hatchery, more commonly known as the Hackettstown State Fish Hatchery, opened in 1912. The facility was responsible for trout production up to 1981, when the Pequest Trout Hatchery took over coldwater production. Hackettstown’s emphasis then turned to cool and warm water production.
The hatchery is currently responsible for the production and distribution of 15 species of cool and warm water fish depending on annual requests from Fish and Wildlife’s regional fisheries biologists.
The hatchery also raises multiple species of fish to supply to county mosquito control programs through the Office of Mosquito Control Coordination‘s Biological Control Program. Annual production numbers range from 1.5 to 2.5 million fish per year. (See summaries below.)
The hatchery is located in Hackettstown, Warren County, along the banks of the Musconetcong River. The facility actually has two separate components, the West Hatchery and the East Hatchery that are situated, as their names imply, on the east and west sides of Hackettstown.
The West or main segment (199 acres) consists of a large state of the art fish culture facility and a 100-acre extensive pond complex consisting of more than 60 earthen ponds. These ponds range in size from .25-5 acres. The East Hatchery (34 acres) is used for extensive production only, consisting of 40 earthen ponds, which range in size from .25-1 acre. The main water supply for both hatcheries is 52-degree spring water naturally bubbling out of the ground.
Fish Production Information and Summaries
Fish Species Raised at Hackettstown
Trapnetting and Spawning Operations
Pond Work and Harvesting
Stocking Summaries by Species and Water
- Stocking Summary 2024
- Stocking Summary 2023
- Stocking Summary 2022
- Stocking Summary 2021
- Stocking Summary 2020
- Stocking Summary 2019
- Stocking Summary 2018
- Stocking Summary 2017
- Stocking Summary 2016
- Stocking Summary 2015
- Stocking Summary 2014
- Stocking Summary 2013
- Stocking Summary 2012
- Stocking Summary 2011
- Stocking Summary 2010
- Stocking Summary 2009
- Stocking Summary 2008
- Stocking Summary 2007
- Stocking Summary 2006
- Stocking Summary 2005
- Stocking Summary 2004
