Get to know F&G's hatcheries: here are 10 cool facts about where many of your fish come from

Idaho Fish and Game’s hatchery crews are gearing up for a busy season of stocking fish throughout the state. Hatchery crews are responsible for hatching, raising, and releasing millions of fish for anglers to catch, which is a huge job. 

Fortunately, they’ve been doing it for a long time. How long? Well, keep reading these 10 cool facts about Idaho’s hatcheries to find out, and more cool information that anglers and non-anglers can appreciate. 

1. Fish and Game raises and releases about 29 million fish annually out of its 19 fish hatcheries located throughout the state.

2. Fish and Game has been raising and releasing hatchery trout for more than a century. The oldest hatchery is the Hayspur Hatchery near Picabo, which started in 1907. Fish and Game has three more hatcheries that have been continuously operating for more than a century.

3. Every month of the year, Fish and Game’s hatchery staff release “catchable” rainbow trout in the 10 to 13-inch range. Depending on the season, crews release trout in ponds, reservoirs, lakes, and rivers for anglers to catch, as well as fingerling kokanee in the spring. Fish and Game also raises and releases millions salmon and steelhead smolts, which are young fish released in the spring to migrate to the ocean and then years later as adults.

4. Our hatcheries raise and release about 20 types of fish (some vary depending on the year) ranging from kokanee salmon that are released at 2.5 inches to sturgeon that are released up to 4 feet long.

5. The average cost to raise and release a 12-inch rainbow trout is around $3, depending on release location.

6. Under ideal conditions, Fish and Game’s hatchery crews can take a rainbow trout egg and raise it to a 12-inch fish ready to stock in about 14 months.

7. Hatchery biologists can manipulate the amount and duration of light a fish receives each day to trigger them into a spawning cycle. Manipulating the timing of those spawning periods allows hatcheries to produce catchable trout ready for stocking any month of the year.

8. Fish and Game annually feeds about 3 million pounds of fish food in its hatcheries, which is roughly the equivalent weight of 13 blue whales or 230 bull elephants.

9. Many of Idaho’s hatcheries are fed by natural spring water that emerges from the ground between 50 and 60-degrees, ideal temperatures for growing trout.

10. All Fish and Game hatcheries operate 365 days per year. All full-time hatchery staff live onsite at each hatchery to ensure it is running smoothly and to immediately react to any emergency situations that arise. 

The public is welcome to take self-guided walking tours at nearly all Fish and Game hatcheries. For more information, hatchery locations and hours, check out Fish and Game’s Hatchery webpage.