This morning Deputy Commissioner Susan Whalen of CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) joined local school students from Prince Technical High School at Keney Park in Hartford where they stocked the lake with trout in preparation for the opening day of fishing this Saturday.

“When I think back to my childhood, I remember the many summers I spent outdoors, fishing with my dad,” Deputy Commissioner Whalen recalls. “Those memories are precious to me, so we’re working hard to provide these kinds of fishing opportunities for families throughout the state. The fish stocking completed by our hatchery program ensures that the opportunity to fish in Connecticut will be available to children and adults for many generations to come.”

Each year hundreds of thousands of trout and salmon are raised in local hatcheries and released into Connecticut waters. These fish are important to sustainability research completed by the hatcheries, and help to preserve fishing opportunity throughout the state.

In addition to the hatchery program, the state of Connecticut promotes outdoor recreation though No Child Left Inside®, a program that promises to introduce children to the wonder of nature – for their own health and well-being, for the future of environmental conservation, and for the preservation of the beauty, character and communities of the great State of Connecticut.

Through this program, Connecticut offers families many opportunities to enjoy time together outdoors. The 14th Annual Great Park Pursuit will be hosted by Connecticut State Parks this summer. This year, in partnership with CARE, the Great Park Pursuit will be kicking off a series of exciting adventures with a FREE Family Fishing Day on Saturday, May 11, 2018 at Chatfield Hollow State Park in Killingworth. For more information about this event, or to register, click here.

The opening day of the trout fishing season is Saturday, April 13, at 6:00 a.m. Each year over 4.4 million fishing days are spent on the water by adult anglers. This translates to nearly $450 million in economic activity across the state, resulting in thousands of jobs from bait and tackle shops as well as guide trips to local restaurants and other support services.

For more information regarding fishing opportunities and regulations in Connecticut, see www.ct.gov/deep/fishing.