The Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center has been a staple of Henderson County since it opened in November of 1996.
The center is an $18 million facility that was built without the use of state funds even though it belongs to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The facility was paid for by public and private entities that worked with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation to raise the money.
Much of the money came from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Fund, a federal program funded by a tax on purchases made by hunters and anglers.
The City of Athens provided a financial package worth $4,063,000, the largest single gift ever made to a conservation project in the state of Texas.
Additional support came from the ShareLunker Foundation, Inc., the Athens Municipal Water Authority, the Athens Economic Development Corporation and a number of private corporations.
Mandy Scott, who is the new director of the Fisheries Center, began on Nov. 1, 2015. She said they are currently working on plans to make some improvements to the facility.
They have put in new hatchery ponds and two water wells, which will help them improve operations along Lake Athens.
We have hatchery ponds and fishing ponds here at the fisheries center. As far as I know, our major construction has been on the hatchery side, Scott said.
At our facility, we have a state-run fish hatchery which produces fish fingerlings to stock throughout the state. In the last year or two, that is where a lot of our attention has been going to improving the hatchery side of it.
2016, Athens Daily Review, Athens, TX.