Friday, May 24, 2013

News
Ship Creek Hatchery is Gearing Up for Next Years Fishing Season
The Department of Fish and Game released its first batch of fish from the state's newest hatchery into lakes and streams across the state.
By Lauren Maxwell
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The Ship Creek Hatchery opened this spring, and they are now starting to deliver some of their first fish.

The baby rainbow trout are called fingerlings, and they are destined for lakes all over Southcentral Alaska.

Most of the hatchery fish start as eggs. Right now, the hatchery has both Coho and King Salmon eggs incubating in a special nursery. Most of the small fish at the hatchery are rainbow trout that are growing in temperature-controlled tanks.

Some of the fingerlings will stay at the hatchery over the winter to be released into lakes next year at a “catchable” size. But this fall, thousands of the little fish are being stocked in lakes from Kenai to Fairbanks and everywhere in between.

Workers said the fish sometimes go on ferries to reach destinations like Cordova and Kodiak. Sometimes, pilots offer to take them in their floatplanes to stock remote lakes. Other times, they are put in plastic bags and stuffed into backpacks so hikers can reach remote locations.

Department of Fish and Game officials said they rely strongly on volunteers to help them stock far-flung lakes, and make sure there are plenty of fish to catch throughout Southcentral Alaska.