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Post-Helene Trout Hatchery Update: Where Armstrong & Setzer Stand Now (and What It Means for Stocking)

As Western North Carolina continues recovering from Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic floods, there’s finally tangible progress at the trout hatcheries that anchor our hatchery-supported program.

What happened

  • Hurricane Helene (Sept. 27, 2024) slammed the mountains and nearly destroyed the Armstrong State Fish Hatchery in McDowell County. Flooding and landslides wiped out infrastructure and killed more than 600,000 trout after the water supply to raceways and the hatchery building was compromised. (NC Wildlife)
  • The Bobby N. Setzer State Fish Hatchery (Pisgah NF, near Brevard) — the state’s largest trout producer — was badly damaged earlier by Tropical Storm Fred on Aug. 17, 2021. Since then, Setzer has operated with constraints while long-planned upgrades were scoped and funded.

Where things stand today

  • Armstrong is back in partial operation (enough that this spring’s Delayed Harvest and Hatchery-Supported stocking looked “somewhat normal”), and is expected to be fully operational by November 2025, per NC Wildlife. That return to full capacity is the key milestone the state has been working toward all year.
  • With Armstrong coming back online, the Setzer renovation — paused after Helene — is slated to begin once Armstrong is fully operational. NCWRC states renovations are scheduled for 2026 (with internal guidance pointing to a January 2026 start). Funding includes $20M appropriated by the N.C. General Assembly plus $19.5M in agency funds to modernize aging infrastructure and add flood resilience. (NC Wildlife)

Why Armstrong’s recovery matters

Setzer produces the majority of the trout for NC’s stocking program. To renovate Setzer without disrupting anglers’ seasons, the plan has been to lean on Armstrong for additional production. Helene forced a pause on Setzer’s shutdown because Armstrong was offline; Armstrong’s return unlocks the Setzer work and stabilizes the statewide stocking program over the next few seasons. (NC Wildlife)

The road ahead.

  • Fall 2025: Armstrong finishes ramping up and reaches full operations by November (target).
  • 2026–2028: Setzer undergoes major renovation, which may reduce stockings at times during 2026–2028, but Armstrong will increase production to cover gaps as much as possible.

     

Quick background on each hatchery

  • Armstrong State Fish Hatchery (McDowell County): Cold-water trout hatchery with outdoor raceways plus indoor egg/fingerling facilities, supplied by the Armstrong Creek watershed. Critical for supporting statewide stockings, especially during Setzer’s renovation window. (NC Wildlife)
  • Bobby N. Setzer State Fish Hatchery (Transylvania County): The state’s largest trout-producing facility; damaged by Fred in 2021; expansion/renovation funded to address aging infrastructure and future flood resilience. (NC Wildlife)

     

Bottom line for our local anglers and partners

  • Good news: Armstrong is essentially back — the last piece is hitting full operations by November 2025.
  • What that enables: The long-planned Setzer rebuild can proceed, ensuring a more resilient, higher-capacity trout program for the mountains.
  • What to expect: Stocking may continue to look a bit different while Setzer is under construction, but the trajectory is stability and improvement as we move into 2026. (NC Wildlife)