Want to know which animals are raised in Cache Valley and used to replenish populations throughout the state? Go fish — literally.
For years, the Logan Fish Hatchery has produced hundreds of thousands of fish for bodies of water throughout Utah. That production, according to state officials, is expected to double after the hatchery’s recent expansion.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources plans to use the expanded part of the facility to raise warm-water fish that many hatcheries cannot, serving what they say are anglers’ shifting preferences in the face of a warming climate.
The facility will continue hatching rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, June sucker, green sucker and woundfin, but will also produce channel catfish, walleye, and wipers — a cross between a white bass and striped bass.
“Our goal with this new facility is to provide a more controlled and consistent hatchery environment for raising warm-water sportfish species,” Gary Howes, the hatchery’s manager, said in a news release. “By upgrading infrastructure, we can better reduce disease risks, optimize fish growth, and ensure a reliable and timely schedule for stocking high-quality fish in Utah’s diverse water bodies.”
Warm-water species are better adapted to handle the lower levels of oxygen and higher temperatures that come with shrinking water bodies due to droughts, according to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
“The warm-water fish species raised at this new facility will help meet some of those needs and better adapt to changing conditions in Utah,” Howes said.
Water temperature in the hatchery’s new 12,600-square-foot building can be adjusted, the news release said, which allows for a more optimal setting to raise different kinds of fish.
Before the expansion, the hatchery raised about 175,000 fish a year. Now, it will raise about 175,000 more, as well as 2 million sac fry, which are recently hatched fish that are still attached to part of their egg.