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Reclaiming Ohi:yo'- Restoring the Altered Landscape of the Beautiful River Ohi:yo' Restoration and Resiliency Projects Members of the Seneca Nation's Watershed Resources Working Group are involved in various restoration and resiliency projects for our Ohi:yo'. The Seneca Nation's Fish and Wildlife Department in particular engages in projects related to building artificial habitat, repopulating our river's Walleye population, and building trenches to help land locked fish. Fighting for the Water: Fracking Wastewater in Ohi:yo' In 2016 the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) began deliberating a 1,000-barrel/day of unconventional gas drilling wastewater (Frack Wastewater) disposal facility in Potter County proposed by Epiphany Allegheny LLC. In response to the news of these fracking plans, our Seneca people again fought for our people, our communities, and our Ohi:yo'.

The Walleye Fish Hatchery

In the spring of 2009 the Seneca Nation Council approved the construction of the Walleye Fish Hatchery, which was an effort to help restore our once prosperous walleye population and restore and improve fish habitat in Ohi:yo'. The walleye have long been a source of subsistence for our Seneca people and still are.

The primary reasons for a decline in our walleye are:

Kinzua Dam and the maturation of the reservoir
Sediment accumulation that covers habitat
Decreased water quality due to silt and sediment accumulation
Erosion of habitat

Through a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grant, the Seneca Nation Fish and Wildlife Department was able to build our completely green facility, which runs entirely on renewable resources, on our Allegany Territory.

Walleye Collection and Hatching Process

Every March, spawning season for the walleye, since 2012 Nation Fish and Wildlife Officers can be seen going out on Ohi:yo' in their electroshocking boat to collect mature walleye.
The walleye that are caught are brought back to the hatchery and placed in holding tanks by gender. Officers check the female walleye on a daily basis to see if their eggs are ready to be removed. Once females are ready for stripping, officers strip milt from approximately 5 to 7 males as well as the eggs from females and mix them in a bowl, stirring the fertilized eggs with a turkey feather.
Fertilized eggs, which at this stage are bright yellow, are placed in the hatchery's incubation racks. A tube that pumps water is placed inside the jar to keep the eggs from sticking together and helps prevent algae, bacteria, or mold from growing on the eggs.

Fish eggs when first fertilized are bright yellow and gradually turn black in color.

After hatching, fry swim to the top of the water column in the hatching jars and swim out to the raceways, long tubs filled with water. Fry are left in the raceways for about three days at which point they are transferred into either the reservoir or the hatchery's rearing ponds.

Releasing Fry into the Allegheny Reservoir

Fry are fish that have just hatched.

Releasing Fingerlings into the Reservoir

The Hatchery's two rearing ponds hold walleye fry for 60 to 70 days after the initial group hatched that season has already been released into the reservoir.

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