RAISING AND STOCKING FISH
PRIOR TO STOCKING.......
The cycle of stocking begins as fishery
biologists monitor lake water quality
and inventory fish populations. Information on species, size, and numbers
of fish required is collected by electrofishing and gill netting.
Production of species at the hatchery is based on this information.
Each spring, just after the ice breaks up, species such as northern pike and
walleye are trapped in nets set in Lake Ashtabula. The trapping coincides
with spawning periods when the females are ripe with eggs. The eggs are
stripped from the females and then fertilized with milt from males of the same
species. Fertilized eggs are transported to the hatchery and placed in
hatching jars at the rate of 2 quarts of eggs per jar. A quart of northern
pike eggs contains approximately 60,000 eggs; walleye eggs are only one-half as
large and average about 120,000 per quart. Under favorable water
temperatures, 15 to 25 days are required for hatching. The newly hatched
"fry" are then stocked into outdoor ponds. These ponds are
fertilized with alfalfa pellets to stimulate invertebrate production, which is
used as a food source for the fish. They reach fingerling size (about 2
inches) in 4 to 6 weeks in these ponds.
INTO THE LAKE...
Fingerlings are transported to lakes that are in need of stocking and released. Primarily, Valley City releases
fish into North Dakota waters, however, some fish are also shipped to other
states. Priority in fish stocking is given to waters on National Wildlife
Refuges, Indian Reservations, National Parks and Forests, and to other Federal
and State-managed waters. The fight of a big fish, the victorious smile of
a 12-year old, and a delicious fish dinner are the direct results of the Valley
City stocking program.
