USFWS Video Celebrates National Hunting and Fishing Day
OutdoorHub 09.18.12
In recognition of National Hunting and Fishing Day (celebrated on September 22 this year) the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Alaska Region has published a video documenting the journey of trout from a hatchery in Anchorage to area lakes, where they became available to eager anglers.
In this video, you can digitally join that trip, as more than 14,000 catchable-sized rainbow trout are moved from hatchery tanks to two local lakes! The fish were among the first to be delivered from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s new William Jack Hernandez sport fish hatchery. The hatchery helps maintain the vitality of Alaska’s sport fisheries by increasing recreational fishing opportunities while reducing fishing pressure on natural stocks.
In the future, hatchery fish will be stocked in more than 200 locations to provide diverse fishing experiences for 400,000 angler days in fresh and marine waters during all seasons of the year. The hatchery produces Chinook and coho salmon, rainbow trout, Arctic grayling, and Arctic char. In total, more than 3.7 million fingerlings, smolts, and catchable fish will be released during the coming year.
Operation and maintenance of the hatchery is partly funded by the Sport Fish Restoration Program, which provides grant funds to state fish and wildlife agencies for fishery projects, boating access, and aquatic education. The Program is authorized by the Sport Fish Restoration Act
(Dingell-Johnson) of 1950, and administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For more information, go to http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/ and http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/.
