The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is providing updates on measures to maximize trout stream stocking in the western part of the state after Hurricane Helene destroyed the Bobby N. Setzer State Fish Hatchery in September 2024.
The aging Setzer hatchery, which supplied most of the trout to NCWRC’s trout stocking program, had already been slated for renovations ahead of the storm, but that plan was dashed in a day when Helene dropped devastating rains across the region, including in Transylvania County where the hatchery is located.
“That was our major production facility,” Supervisor Doug Bessler told The Smoky Mountain News last month…