Frequently Asked Questions

We are a captive propagation fish hatchery for imperiled, non-game fishes. We work with Federal and State agencies and other organizations to maintain and restore the freshwater biodiversity of, primarily, the southeastern United States.

Yes! We are a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Although many of our projects are funded by state and federal funds, we are a private hatchery.

Conservation Fisheries is dedicated to the preservation of aquatic biodiversity in our streams and rivers. To achieve this we propagate fish, collect their eggs, hatch them and raise them up to juvenile fish, and release them into the wild within their historic range, to restore their wild populations. We may also propagate fish to be used as mussel hosts or for various research purposes.

A large part of our work is monitoring fish populations using non-invasive techniques, primarily snorkeling to observe fish.

No, we do not do habitat restoration. Our observations of fish in the wild help to know what kind of habitat is needed, and we can advise our partners who are doing the habitat restoration work on what is ideal for a species to thrive.

While our hatchery is located in Knoxville, Tennessee, the work we do reaches from Missouri and Arkansas, throughout the southeast, and northeast to Pennsylvania and even New York!

Ours is not a typical hatchery like you may have seen elsewhere. Rather than having outdoor raceways for our fish, all fish are propagated and grown in tanks and indoor vats. Where most hatcheries are located somewhere with a ready supply of flowing water (a well, spring, or tailwater of a reservoir), CFI uses filtered municipal water and each hatchery system is recirculating.

We do offer tours on a limited basis. Please contact us well in advance of when you would like to visit. There may be times throughout the year when we are busy in the field and are unable to accommodate groups.

At this time given the size of our facility we are only accepting small groups for tours. If you have a large class-size (high school-college) we may split them up into two or three groups. If you have younger students (elementary-junior high) we ask that there are plenty of chaperones to monitor the kids. With our future facility expansion we will be able to better accommodate larger groups.

Additionally, all guests are required to wear a mask to be permitted entry into the hatchery.

At this time we are not hiring new members to our team. In the event that we are hiring there will be a page added to this website in addition to posting the position on several job boards.

We work mostly with rare, imperiled, state listed, and federally listed (under the Endangered Species Act) species, but we also work with common species as well. The species that we work with are non-game fish and are primarily native to the southeastern United States, such as darters, minnows, and madtoms.

We are not a trout hatchery, nor do we propagate fish as food for trout or other game fish.

In our hatchery we only propagate fish. However, we do culture several species of worms, zooplanktons, and rotifers as live food sources for our fish.

No, we do not. You should contact the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency if you live in Tennessee, or your local state fish and game agency if you live in another state. You can also contact your local Agricultural Extension Agent to inquire about this.

These agencies also may be able to answer questions like: How do I control Algae in my pond?; Why are the fish in my pond dying?; and other similar questions.

Yes! We have a Volunteer Program and accept new volunteers four times per year. Check out our volunteer page for more information!

Yes, anyone can apply to volunteer with us! At this time we are giving preference to college students interested in working in the fisheries and wildlife field, but are happy to consider other volunteers as well.

No, volunteers are mostly in the hatchery. As a captive propagation hatchery, about 80% of our work is in the hatchery and the other 20% is in the field. With our field work depending on the weather and time of year, we do not have a consistent enough field work schedule to specifically bring in volunteers (or interns, or seasonal workers) for help in the field.

However, we do try to get volunteers out in the field with us when we can.

We created our Volunteer Program to allow students and community members to contribute to conservation efforts without it needing to be their full-time job. Volunteering is not considered unpaid work, but it is considered a donation of the volunteer’s time. Volunteers are not contractually bound to do work for us and can leave the Volunteer Program at any time.

Volunteers benefit from the experience gained through working at CFI. Almost nowhere in the U.S. offers volunteers the opportunity to work in a breeding program such as ours. This experience can go a long way toward their eligibility to seek employment with state and/or federal agencies or in their application to graduate school.

Additionally, nearly all non-profit organizations rely on volunteers to help further their mission, and we are no different.

For more information about our stance on unpaid work, please see our answer about internships.

At this time we do not offer internships as we do not have the proper funding to pay a potential intern a comfortable wage. If a student is able to fund an internship themselves through their university or a scholarship program, we will consider taking on an intern.

There are certainly instances where holding animals in captivity can be detrimental. However, holding animals in captivity can benefit the conservation of a species and helps biologists better understand the behaviors of and how to best care for a species.

Most of the fish in our hatchery are propagated with the intent to release the juveniles (and eventually, the adult breeders) to restore failing or concerning populations, or re-establish populations in streams formerly occupied by the species.

We understand your concern, but we do everything in our power to make sure our fish live enriched, long, healthy lives. Additionally, the conservation work that we do may not benefit a particular individual fish, but definitely benefits the species as a whole.

No, you may not have any of our fish. Many of the species we work with are illegal to keep or handle without a permit. We have both legal and moral obligations to uphold when working with these species.

The easiest thing for you to do to help conservation is to make donations to organizations that are doing conservation work.

If you are a hobbyist interested in helping, you may consider working with a sister species of an imperiled species to make observations about things such as their feeding and spawning behaviors. Observations like these can be published in the North American Native Fish Association’s American Currents quarterly journal.

As private citizens, we all have the ability (and obligation) to speak with our government representatives to encourage them to both support protecting the environment and provide adequate funding to agencies tasked with protecting and recovering imperiled species.

Your purchasing power and the way you live at home can also make huge differences! Choosing food or other items that use few harmful chemicals and packaging can make a big difference to rivers. Recycling what you can also helps. While small actions may seem like drops in a bucket, those drops all add up!

The work we do is not a part of the wildlife trade. We are federally permitted to do any transfers of fish to other accredited institutions, and never transfer any fish to hobbyists or community members for personal use.

To donate to our organization, please visit our Donate page.

Yes, donations to Conservation Fisheries are tax deductible.

Our Tax ID Number is: 62-1502226, and we can provide donation receipts for contributions over $250.

At this time we have two projects to direct our donations: General, and to our Facility Expansion.

If you would like to make a donation to a particular species project, please mention the species in the comment box while completing your donation.