The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service transferred ownership of the former Tylersville National Fish Hatchery to the State of Pennsylvania at an April 5 ceremony at the hatchery.  The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, which has operated the hatchery for over 20 years under lease from the federal government, will continue to rear fish at the site. 

A 2006 act of Congress directed the Secretary of the Interior to convey the Tylersville hatchery to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

The hatchery had been operated by the Northeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service until its closing in 1976.  A 1983 agreement with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania allowed the state to continue operation of the hatchery.  In 1990 the Service leased the facility to the commonwealth for a 25 year period.

"We've been pleased to be able to keep this hatchery in production through our partnership with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission," said Marvin Moriarty, Northeast regional director for the Fish and WIldlife Service.  "We're just as pleased to be able to convey the hatchery to the commonwealth for its permanent operation." 

About 13 percent of the state's annual trout production comes from the Tylersville hatchery.  The hatchery's annual economic impact to the state has been estimated at around $63 million per year.