Systems invloved with Wastewater Treatment and Aquaculture of Arcata Marsh

  1. Treatment of incoming water from Wastewater Treatment Site
  2. Fish Egg Incubator
  3. Juvenile Fish Rearing Pens
  4. Fish Hatchery
                                          Rearing pen.jpeg


Incoming Material (effluent) from Wastewater treatment plant

  • The water that is treated at the plant is pumped and mixed with saltwater from the bay to produce a mixture that the fish can survive in.
  • This is accomplished by a pump at the headgates that controls water salinity as well as a forced air pump that helps regulate dissolved oxygen and screens water for dangerous compounds.
  • Prior to 1991 the systems were all closed, but with the addition of numerous pipes connecting the ponds, it is now a continuously flowing system


Fish Hatchery System

The growth cycle of the fish is as follows:

  1. Egg incubators
  2. Recirculating Rearing Pens
  3. Yearling ponds
  4. Adult fish ponds
  5. Release or transportation for continued use

Egg Incubators

  • The system used involves trays of eggs that are constantly being treated with flowing water.
  • The water is drawn from a 500 gallon resevoir thats located underground.
  • Water exiting the system as well as returning to the resevoir is ran through filration systems to insure that dissolved organic material is removed from the system.

Rearing Pens

  • Fry and Fingerlings (fish development stages) are kept in rearing pens under a 2000 gallon recirculating system.
  • Sterilizing and filtration system are in place to ensure water quality and fish health.
  • Two chamber plastic lined tanks are used to hold the fish, they also include rocks and oyster shells to provide natural habitat reenactment.

Yearling Ponds

Adult Ponds

  • Pond one and pond 2 are both used to house the adult fish which have made it through the adolecent stages of growth, they are the largest ponds and have the largest fish.
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