Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery
Mountain-Prairie Region
Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery (Photos clockwise from top left) Sandstone cliffs near Jones Hole, Brown trout, Jones Hole raceways

 

About Us

 

Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery (NFH) was established in 1956 when Congress authorized the Hatchery under Section 8 as part of the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP), mandating that fish be reared and then stocked into all CRSP waters. CRSP waters include Flaming Gorge, and Steinaker and Redfleet Reservoirs. Located 40 miles northeast of Vernal on the Utah-Colorado border on 390 acres in a beautiful sandstone geologic setting, the hatchery provides management and production of trout for mitigation of Colorado River Storage Project waters of the Upper Colorado River System and to meet Tribal trust responsibilities on Native American land. Water for Jones Hole NFH comes from underground springs that are capable of supplying up to 15,000 gallons of water per minute. This volume of water is necessary to rear the large numbers of fish needed for stocking CRSP waters. The water temperature, 13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit) year round, is ideal for rearing trout. Construction of Jones Hole NFH began in 1968, with the first trout produced in 1970. Now, nearly two million trout are raised annually.

 

As the natural aquatic habitat changes from natural (drought, flood, habitat destruction) or human influences (over-harvest, pollution, habitat loss due to development and dam construction), the natural production of fish declines. Stocking of fish is one of the many management strategies used by biologists to help replenish the populations for years to come.