Return to Dwight D. Eisenhower National Fish Hatchery
Projects and Research
Updated September 23, 2026
For over 100 years, our hatchery has been rearing landlocked Atlantic salmon for anglers in the Lake Champlain Basin. We also raise brook and lake trout for recreational fishing in Vermont's waterbodies. Check out each of our individuals species to learn more about the work we do!
Landlocked salmon
We have raised landlocked Atlantic salmon for the Lake Champlain Restoration Program since 1980. The species was extirpated from Lake Champlain around the turn of the century due to the construction of dams which cut off fish from their spawning grounds
Lake trout
We raised lake trout for the Lake Champlain Restoration Program from 1980 to 1995. Like the Atlantic salmon, lake trout were extirpated from Lake Champlain around the turn of the century for similar reasons that caused the decline of salmon, including commercial fishing around spawning grounds, followed by the invasive sea lamprey.
Brook trout
The Dwight D Eisenhower National Fish Hatchery raises eastern brook trout for Vermont waters. Brookies (or "squaretail") were once abundant in the rivers of northeastern North America, from Maine to Georgia, to the Hudson Bay and Great Lakes basins.