Springville Hatchery Spins a Fish Tale

If you don’t know what to look for, it’s easy to miss Utah’s second-largest fish hatchery, located at 1000 North Main Street in Springville.

It’s been there since the early 1900s, in one form or another. In fact, for a long time it was the largest fish hatchery in the state. Reconstruction of the Fountain Green Hatchery in 2002 made that hatchery the largest.

You might be wondering how the Springville Fish Hatchery got its start.

“In about 1899,” said Richard Hartman, superintendent of the hatchery, “the State of Utah saw a need to raise fish, to restock some of the state’s waters because the fish population was declining. This was due to a variety of reasons, including drought, water quality problems, fishing, and all kinds of influences.”

In 1909, the state acquired land from Springville City and the production of fish at the hatchery started in November of that year and has continued ever since.

Back then, the fish hatchery consisted of two entities, a federally run facility and a state facility, the federal on the west side of Main Street and the state-run facility on the east side. In 1973, due to budget cuts, Uncle Sam decided to hand his share of the hatchery over to the State of Utah. Now, the two halves make a whole, even though a major thoroughfare divides them.

So, what does a fish hatchery do? On the surface, what the Springville Fish Hatchery does is in its name: it hatches fish. But there’s more to it than that.

The actual brooding and fertilizing of the fish take place at facilities in Mantua and Loa, where they stay until they reach a stage of development known as “eyed-up eggs.” At that point, the fish are shipped to the hatcheries throughout the state, including Springville.

Upon arrival, the fish go into incubators until they hatch. For the first few weeks after hatching, they have an egg sac attached to them that provides food.

Gradually, their bodies absorb the sacs, at which point they start swimming around looking for food. That’s when Hartman and his team enter the picture.

From this point, it takes about a year before the fish are ready to go to their new homes in ponds and lakes along the Wasatch Front from Santaquin to Brigham City.

While they’re at the hatchery, the fish are needy, requiring regular feedings, cleaning, and water quality control.

“The fish require constant care,” Hartman said. “There are no days off when it comes to taking care of them. Someone’s got to be here 24/7 to make sure their needs are met.”

Once they reach the year mark, they move to their new homes. A staff of biologists checks on the fish in their new habitats throughout the year to make sure they’re thriving. These studies help determine how many fish the hatcheries need to stock in the future.

As you can tell, there’s more to stocking the state’s waters with fish than just dumping them in the lake or pond. It can be rewarding work.

“There’s a lot of satisfaction in knowing that you’re helping the State of Utah, anglers, and the people of the state who enjoy fishing, by repopulating the waters,” Hartman said.

Of all that goes on at the Springville Hatchery,

Hartman says it’s the actual stocking of the fish that he enjoys most.

“People are really happy to see us restocking the waters,” he said. “They’re very grateful for the work we do. That’s always really satisfying.”

The process of stocking involves a variety of methods, from opening the gate of the water truck at a lake for the fish to enter, to using a plane to deposit fish in high-elevation lakes that aren’t accessible by road.

Springville Hatchery currently produces a variety of fish, including several types of trout, bass, and bluegill. Currently, the focus is on rainbow trout, walleye, and wipers.

Due to drought, the hatchery doesn’t raise as many fish as it used to. At its peak, Hartman said, the hatchery raised about 220,000 pounds of fish annually, but currently it raises about 100,000 pounds.