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Show Mammoth Creek Fish Hatchery In HatcL HATCH An exciting place to visit. is the newly remodeled Mammoth Fish Hatchery operated by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. The road to the hatchery is located just south of Hatch on the west side of U.S. 89 and , visitors are welcome to the facility that, like other Utah hatcheries, makes fishing so successful in Utah. Mammoth Creek Hatchery Superintendent Su-perintendent Gordon Nelson is proud to show off the fishery's sleek new raceways (fish runs) which are made of steel and highly finished. Sixteen are now in full operation. Mammoth Creek Hatchery produces pro-duces upwards of 650,000 fish per year under the direction of Nelson, his assistant Ben Giles, and technician techni-cian Craig Barney. The fishery raises splake for Fish Lake and rainbow trout for local waters. Nelson Nel-son said that occasionally cutthroat trout are sometimes brought in from the Glenwood hatchery to put a different type of trout into local fishing holes. The hatchery now boasts a paved parking lot and four picnic tables overlooking Mammoth Creek where fishing is allowed. There are new very large and clean restrooms, a maintenance shed, two new homes for the fishery staff and their families, and a complete brooding and developing building for the eggs that are sent from other hatcheries. There are eight 110-foot 500-gallon 500-gallon fish runs and eight 150-foot 1 000-gallon runs. Nelson said that an interesting sidelight is that when water has been run into the raceways race-ways and into settling ponds, finally fi-nally evaporating off, the remaining residue of fish slime, body wastes and other debris is avidly sought by ranchers for use as a highly prized fertilizer. Nelson says the water in the hatchery remains at a very consent 54 degrees, making it ideal for raising rais-ing fish. In addition to the time he pends at the hatchery, Nelson also ndsagooddeal of his ume n local fisheries electroshocking and eillnetting fish to try to estimate populations in the different waters. He also makes note of any predators such as migrating birds, or larger fish in the area. Many of die fish are weighed, marked and released. Some are taken and the contents of their stomachs examined to determine whether their diet is adequate. Nelson says he has achieved his lifelong ambition, doing what he loves to do in an ideal setting. His wife and five children are happy and he would like to is, where he can Z . anappreciaave |
