North Attleboro National Fish Hatchery

A great opportunity to explore the greenspaces in our community. Saturday July 20th, reserve your spot in the link!

Attleboro Springs Hike Join Mass Audubon for a wildlife exploration of the Attleboro Springs Wildlife Sanctuary at La Salette.

From May through early July, our team works tirelessly to produce millions of American shad larvae for rivers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The American shad eggs are highly temperature dependent - the warmer the water, the quicker they hatch. During the warmest days, the shad eggs can hatch out in nearly 2 days!

This is a picture of "eyed" American shad eggs just before hatching. If you look closely, you can see the eyes, the spine, and even the yolk sac.

Photo: Katie Marony/USFWS

New Duck Stamp alert!

STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND GO BUY A DUCK STAMP TO HELP SAVE WETLANDS AND WILDLIFE!

Sorry about the yelling, it's just that when the new Federal Duck Stamp goes on sale, we get realllllllly excited. The new 2024-2025 stamp featuring a northern pintail painted by Chuck Black of Montana, is now on sale!

Why purchase a Federal Duck Stamp?
⛰️ Free admission to national wildlife refuges that have entrance fees
💧 Funding helps protect wetlands
🦆 Healthy habitat supports migratory birds and other wildlife
🎨 Get inspired by art – and nature
✅ Required for hunting migratory birds

The Federal Duck Stamp plays a critically important role in wildlife conservation. Since 1934, sales of this stamp have raised more than $1.2 billion to conserve over 6 million acres of wetlands habitat on national wildlife refuges around the nation.

Photo by Chuck Black/USFWS Copyrighted, All Rights Reserved - Used by Permission

Did you know that we have a pond complex across the street from the hatchery? In several of these ponds we raise juvenile American shad for fall stockings in the Taunton River.

To monitor growth and development, hatchery staff seine each pond to collect length samples of the young American shad. This data is then used to calculate an appropriate feeding regimen.

Images: Katie Marony/USFWS

The hatchery will be closed this coming Monday, January 17 in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr holiday, but many National Wildlife Refuges and other public lands will be open. Best of all, January 17 is one of this year’s fee-free days! See details below.

The fee-free days for 2022 were just announced and there is one coming up!

Monday, January 17 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Saturday, April 16 – First Day of National Park Week

Thursday, August 4 – Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act

Saturday, September 24 – National Public Lands Day

Friday, November 11 – Veterans Day

The free admission days are designed to encourage discovery and visitation of the country’s variety of national parks. With at least one in every state, national parks are accessible places to visit to refresh body, mind, and spirit.

Photo of Death Valley National Park by Kevin Shi

The hatchery will be closed today due to hazardous road and trail conditions. We will open again for regular hours on Monday, January 10.

Have a safe and snowy weekend!

The hatchery will be closed on Friday, December 31 to observe the New Year holiday.

The hatchery will be closed on Friday, December 24 to observe the Christmas holiday. We will reopen on Monday, December 27.

The hatchery has changed a lot through the years. This undated photo (probably late 1950s to late 1960s) looking toward what is now Bungay Rd shows the original configuration of the main hatchery campus. In the 1990s the long, uncovered raceways were replaced with circular tanks housed within canvas tents.

This week: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management asks for public input on three offshore clean energy projects; imperiled wildlife across the nation will benefit from nearly $7.5 million in grants from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Tracy Stone-Manning is sworn-in as the new Director of the Bureau of Land Management; America's first stewards could be among its next...we'll tell you about plans for the Indian Youth Service Corps Program; U.S. Geological Survey crews were on the job after an "Atmospheric River" event brought significant precipitation to the western United States; the Bureau of Reclamation celebrates the completion of the Schaake Habitat Improvement Project in the Yakima Basin; Interior agencies drop a net on invasive carp in the Mississippi River; we salute the tiny creatures that fly by night during Bat Week 2021; and a misty mountain trail leads the way to our social media Picture of the Week!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTNsSINbfnU

This Week at Interior October 29, 2021 This Week: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management asks for public input on three offshore clean energy projects; imperiled wildlife across the nation will ben...

The hatchery will be closed to the public today due to hazardous conditions on roads and the nature trail. We plan to re-open tomorrow. Stay safe!

Now it's easier to send North Attleboro National Fish Hatchery a message.

This Week: Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environment Enforcement is part of the response to the Southern California oil spill; Secretary Haaland takes part in listening sessions as Interior continues to mark Hispanic Heritage Month; Interior announces $348 million for 62 projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin; a forum took place for Bureau of Indian Education students and families addressing COVID-19 vaccinations and a safe in-person educational environment; U.S. Geological Survey scientists are keeping a watchful eye during the latest eruption of Hawai'i's Mount Kīlauea volcano; the National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program awards more than $900,000 to its preservation partners across the country; Vice President Harris kicks off the Combined Federal Campaign, the official workplace giving campaign for federal employees and retirees; and we head to Glacier National Park for our social media Picture of the Week!

This Week at Interior October 8, 2021 This Week: Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environment Enforcement is part of the response to the Southern California oil spill; Secretary Haaland takes part...