Gone Fishing…Thanks to Automation

Careful monitoring of oxygen and temperature is needed to ensure fry (fish 4-6 months) will mature into juveniles that are strong enough to thrive when moved to outdoor tanks.

Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery plays a vital role in supporting recreational fishing and supplementing natural fish populations. Year after year, many of the brown trout, sturgeon and rainbow trout that fill Michigan’s lakes and streams begin their life at the facility. Rarely, however, do folks get a chance to see all that goes into operations—until now.

An elaborate automated system supports the hatchery, which is one of six facilities that regularly produce anywhere between 2.5 to 6 million fish each year. Numerous process control and alarm systems, which utilize Opto 22 SNAP Ethernet hardware as their central components, are needed to safely monitor and control power, oxygen and water to ensure safe temperatures and water conditions. Constant monitoring and response to the delicate balance is needed as the fish go through the various stages of development, from incubation to spending 4-6 months indoors as fry to finally maturing as juveniles where they will spend up to a year in outdoor tanks. View a video tour of the facility here.