Salt Lake City — With continued population growth in Utah increasing demands on the water infrastructure and ongoing drought conditions reducing the amount of water available, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is proactively planning for the future by reviewing fish production and stocking and making adjustments where needed.
The first traditional state fish hatchery — where eggs were produced and raceways were used to raise fish — opened in Murray in 1899. In 1909, the Springville Fish Hatchery was acquired, making it the first state-owned fish hatchery facility in Utah. Currently, there are 12 operating state-owned fish hatcheries in Utah, with another currently under construction in Loa that’s expected to be completed in 2027.
“The reconstruction of the Loa Fish Hatchery has provided the necessary capacity to make meaningful changes in our production methods and hatchery maintenance, as well as to improve the health of the fish we raise and the efficiency of our fish culture statewide,” DWR Fish Culture Coordinator Roger Mellenthin said. “Currently, our fish hatcheries are all at capacity, and raising fish in close densities can more easily allow for disease transmission. Having Loa completed will allow us to reduce densities at the other hatcheries and enable us to raise overall healthier fish.”
With the increased capacity, the DWR is planning now for the next 30 years of fish production in Utah and making the needed adjustments to maximize efficiency and to better navigate ongoing changes in the state. The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute projects that Utah’s population is expected to nearly double between 2020 and 2050. This increase in population will likely result in a continuing increase in anglers, while the capacity to produce more fish will not continue to increase due to a set number of hatcheries and available water sources.
“This new plan is helping us proactively look ahead at the future of fish production in Utah by organizing how and where we will raise fish, where we can raise a few different species, and where we can raise native fish to help recover those species, as well,” Mellenthin said. “With this new plan, we can increase our capacity and efficiency, ensuring that Utah’s anglers will have fish to enjoy well into the future. Our goal is to expand angling opportunities and native species conservation efforts in Utah over the next 30 years.”
Historically, the primary fish species stocked in Utah were various species of trout, including rainbow, cutthroat, brown, brook and lake trout. These fish do well in cool water, like high-elevation mountain streams and other reservoirs throughout Utah.
Over the years, the DWR has expanded the types of fish raised and stocked in Utah waterbodies to help native fish populations and to include additional fishing opportunities, including for cool and warmwater species that can successfully reproduce in Utah’s reservoirs, reducing reliance on the fish hatcheries to provide those species. The fish species currently stocked include:
- Arctic grayling
- Black and white crappie
- Bluegill
- Bonytail
- Brook trout
- Brown trout
- Channel catfish
- Cutthroat trout
- Green sucker
- June sucker
- Kokanee salmon
- Lake trout
- Largemouth bass
- Rainbow trout
- Razorback sucker
- Splake trout
- Tiger muskie
- Tiger trout
- Virgin River chub
- Walleye
- Wiper
- Woundfin
With the ongoing changes in Utah, the DWR analyzed opportunities to continue providing great fisheries into the future, despite all of the upcoming challenges. This production plan is the result and includes a few changes to the species that will be produced and where they will be stocked in the state. Some of those changes include:
- Increasing the production of native fish species: This change will be implemented to better help native fish populations. In some instances, the conservation of a species is contingent on stocking to bolster the population. Specifically, the DWR will be starting to raise and stock more green sucker, northern leatherside chub, roundtail chub, and woundfin, as well as Western toads. Increasing populations will ensure that these species remain common in Utah and will prevent listings under the Endangered Species Act.
- Raising and stocking more cool and warmwater sportfish species: Because of increasing water temperatures in the state, some of the mid- and low-elevation waterbodies that were traditionally stocked with trout and other coldwater species will be stocked with species that better tolerate warmer water temperatures. As a result, some of the current hatcheries will transition to raise more cool and warmwater fish species, including a recent remodel of the Logan Fish Hatchery.
- Adjusting the sizes and number of fish stocked: In the future, fewer fish may be stocked at waterbodies that primarily see catch-and-release fishing and that have high survival rates of fish. The DWR will continue to conduct angler surveys and tagged fish studies to better understand catch-and-release rates and other angler behaviors at certain waterbodies to maximize efficiency in fish stocking, while still maintaining angler satisfaction. The reductions in these types of waterbodies can then be transferred to other waterbodies where harvest remains high, providing the opportunity for greater angler satisfaction at more locations.
- Raising different strains of trout at various hatcheries: Another update included analyzing the state’s coldwater fish hatcheries and determining where different coldwater strains and species (like rainbow, cutthroat, brown, and brook trout) did better and were less susceptible to disease. The analysis determined which strains could replace those poorly performing ones and in which hatcheries, based on water temperatures, the facility’s infrastructure, and the performance of each strain or species over the last decade. This same analysis will be performed for warmwater species in the future.
“We want anglers to know that we hear the projections for Utah, and we see and experience the changes in our fisheries as well,” DWR Sportfish Coordinator Trina Hedrick said. “We face a number of challenges for effective fish conservation and management in the coming years, and we can’t do it alone. If we are going to address these challenges, we need help from the anglers who enjoy fishing in Utah. We are increasing our efforts to better understand fishing experiences at many of Utah’s waters, and over the next few years, anglers may see more requests to provide feedback about their fishing experiences, especially as some of the stocking changes are implemented. Public satisfaction is a key component of our sportfish management actions and receiving feedback is crucial to these efforts. This plan will help us navigate the future more clearly and more efficiently.”
