Craig Brook and Green Lake National Fish Hatcheries

10/01/2025

Due to the federal government shutdown, this account is not being actively updated.
For more information, please visit:

Operations in the Absence of Appropriations

10/10/2023

This page will go offline on Friday October 13. Please visit https://www.fws.gov/fish-hatchery/craig-brook to stay up to date with the happenings at the hatchery and thank you for all the likes over the past 12 years!

Craig Brook NFH currently functions as a conservation hatchery for the last remaining natural populations of Atlantic salmon in the United States for seven river specific brood stocks.

07/31/2023

Photo journalist Avery Howe worked with personnel from Craig Brook, Green Lake, Maine Department of Marine Resources and Project SHARE to develop this immersive piece of journalism, "Fallen Kings". Take a moment to read about, and listen to, the story of Maine's Atlantic salmon and the passion of the biologists working to save them.

www.averyhowe.com/stories/atlantic-salmon

07/23/2023

Here's something random for your Sunday - a peregrine falcon flew into the Union River Book and Toy Co. in Ellsworth today! Looks like the beautiful, if bewildered, bird was released safely.

07/14/2023

Headed out for a weekend of fun?! Try out the National Fish Hatchery Roadtrip. If you're staying local you can check out Craig Brook and Green Lake but if you're headed farther afield, you'll be amazed at how many hidden hatchery gems there are! Follow the link to learn more and start the adventure!

https://www.fws.gov/story/hatchery-road-trip-craig-Craig Brook and Green Lake National Fish Hatcheries

View other hatcheries in the northeast series!

07/13/2023

Hope to see you here on the 16th!

06/24/2023

What an incredible sight!! Hundreds of *living dinosaurs* spawning in downtown Gardiner!

Hundreds of Atlantic sturgeon have turned up in a stream in downtown Gardiner, giving local residents a rare, close-up glimpse of the massive fish.

06/21/2023

Good afternoon, folks!! The Friends of Craig Brook are planning an open house event in July where there will be fly-tying, fly-casting instruction and competition, and guided tours of the hatchery! Check out the flyer below and hope to see you there!

05/09/2023

Good morning! If you're planning on hitting Craig Pond this week for some well-deserved recreation, please be advised the road is undergoing maintenance and may not be passable for vehicles.

05/06/2023

Come celebrate the annual alewife migration in the Bagaduce Watershed on Saturday, May 13th from 11:00AM – 2:00PM at Pierce Pond (Mill Creek Road) in Penobscot!

View migrating alewives and learn about the amazing journey these fish undertake from the Atlantic Ocean to our lakes and ponds. Learn about fish restoration projects on the peninsula as well and how you can help!

This event is FREE and open to the public. This event will be outside, rain or shine, so please dress for the weather with appropriate footwear.

04/20/2023

Please help the Maryland Department of Natural Resources - Natural Resources Police find the culprit behind the loss of 25,000 trout at the Albert Powell Trout Hatchery.

Hatchery personnel made a grim and heartbreaking discovery Monday morning - someone had shut a valve that cut oxygen to one of the raceways.

If you have any information please call Maryland NRP at 410-260-8888.

“At approx. 7:30AM on 4/17 employees at the Albert Powell Fish Hatchery discovered that someone closed one of the discharge valves in one of the raceways at the hatchery which resulted in the death of 1,000s of trout. If you have info. about this incident, please call 410-260-8888”

04/11/2023

If you think Patrick is the only slime-spewing "star" of the sea you are only half right. Meet the [drumroll, please . . . ] the Hagfish, also known in Maine as slime-eels 🤢

Hagfish are amazing creatures that have persisted, unchanged, since Barney . . . I mean T. rex roamed the Earth! They are best known for their startling ability to create, you guessed it, COPIOUS amounts of slime as a predator defense. To learn more check out this article from Down East Magazine: https://bit.ly/3nUD2io

Photo credit "Patrick" - Alpha Group
Photo credit "Hagfish" - ffennema, via iStock.