Local hatchery up against potential budgets cuts

Children of all ages excitedly rush from a nearby

parking lot up to the Greers Ferry National

Fish Hatchery at JFK Park near Heber Springs,

pulling their parents along for a look at a rainbow

trout – thought by many to be one of the most intriguing

fish found in cold freshwater streams.

U.S. Fisheries Biologist Greg McCormick, one of

five employees at the local hatchery, said there is

nothing more rewarding about his job than seeing

the kids smile.

“Having a little boy or girl see a trout for the first

time. Letting them feed the big fish. I tell them ‘Don’t

get wet’ and of course they don’t have a clue what I

am talking about but there will be a big splash, ‘Kaboom.’

“Letting them touch a fish for the first time…A lot

of them come from big cities and haven’t been that

close to a fish their entire life, much less a 10-pound

rainbow trout. Just seeing the look in their eyes…I

can be hot and tired, worn out from moving fish all

week. I can get tired of looking at fish but then one of

those kids will come through…It’s kinda hard to explain,”

said McCormick.

Just down from the hatchery at the Little Red River,

anglers from all over the nation and even foreign

countries line the bank in hopes of catching a trout.

But, with one stroke of the pen, over 50 years of economic

progress in this area and beyond could be

wiped out if President Barack Obama’s budget is approved

by Congress.

The budget request includes a total of $131.6 million

for the Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Conservation

program, a decrease of $3.7 million from the

2012 level. Facilitating the FWS role and responsibility

in promoting ecosystem health, fisheries, and

aquatic resource conservation, the budget includes

program increases for cooperative recovery and

ecosystem restoration, as well as $1.5 million for fish

passage improvements, $1.6 million to implement

the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, and $2.9

million for Asian carp activities in the Great Lakes.

These increases are offset by reductions in other

program activities, including a $3.2 million program

reduction to costs associated with the production of

fish for the purpose of mitigating the effects of Federal

water development projects. The FWS will continue

to work to recover costs from responsible agencies

in order to focus its base funding on native fish recovery

and restoration.

“This will definitely affect Greers Ferry and Norfork

fish hatcheries, as well as the other four trout

hatcheries in the southeast,” said Greers Ferry Hatchery

Manager Sherri Shoults in a statement released

to The Sun-Times. “We are pretty much right back

where we started this time last year, meaning funding

will not be there for our operations unless Congress

changes the language of the FY13 budget before

it is approved later in the year.”

If the federal government cuts funding, Mc-

Cormick estimates this area of the state would lose

$68 million per year.

Perhaps, the Arkansas Game and Fish could come

up with sufficient funding to take over the program.

“I would think that somebody would have to do it if

not us,” said McCormick. “In the latest economic

study, it was determined that it brings in $68 million

per year and that includes anything related to trout

in this area. Whether they come here just to look at

the river and eat lunch, buy a t-shirt or whatever, it

goes into that number. Our budget, give or take a little,

is about $600,000 per year. Anybody would want

to spend that much and get $68 million in return.”

If Heber were to lose the fish hatchery, McCormick

estimates hundreds could lose their job.

“It would be pretty bad. I think the last study

showed 800 jobs that are created just because of the

trout in this river. People from all around the world

fish this river.

Not everybody fishes or hunts but a lot of what they

do in their daily lives, whether they know it or not, is

benefited by the fish in this river because of the

tourist coming through,” added McCormick.