SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 15, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — State wildlife officials have introduced more than 8 million fish into Utah waterways this year, stocking waters to enhance locals’ fishing experience.
“The DWR stocked 8,269,311 fish into 711 local water bodies this year — a total of 1,140,682 pounds of fish!” the state Division of Wildlife Resources said in a press release.
“That was a slight decrease from the 9.6 million fish stocked in 2021 and roughly the same amount stocked in 2020. In 2019, the DWR began stocking fewer, but larger, fish to increase their survival rate. The DWR made a few more adjustments to fish stocking in Utah the last two years due to ongoing drought conditions.”
The practice of stocking fish in the Beehive State goes back more than 150 years, the DWR said, as fish were first formally stocked in Utah in 1871.
“At that time, fish were transported from other states by train and were stocked into lakes along the train route. In 1897, Utah opened its first hatcheries and started raising trout locally.”
These original hatcheries were really impounded streams infused with starter fish from the federal government, DWR Aquatic Section Assistant Chief Craig Schaugaard said. “We opened our first traditional fish hatchery — where we produced our own eggs and used raceways like we have today — in Murray in 1899.”
Over time, the DWR expanded its fish hatchery operations, the DWR said. There are now 13 facilities across Utah. The bulk of the fish stocked in 2022 — approximately 1.10 million pounds of the total 1.14 million pounds — came from these DWR hatcheries. The remaining fish were transported from various hatcheries across the U.S.
Drought impacts fish by reducing the amount of water available in lakes, reservoirs and streams throughout the state, the DWR said in detailing drought adjustments to stocking.
Smaller amounts of water heat more quickly and warm to higher temperatures. Warm water holds less oxygen than cold water, and the combination of high temperatures and low oxygen can stress fish, causing poor growth, disease and sometimes death. In an effort to help increase the survival rates of fish that were stocked this year, the DWR stocked fewer fish in water bodies with low water levels and reallocated some fish to water bodies not impacted by drought.
The DWR is also making other proactive fish stocking changes related to drought, the release said, including evaluating the fish species that are stocked at drought-impacted water bodies — this may include stocking more warm-water fish species at certain water bodies.
