Total cost of the project, located near the central Missouri town of Warsaw, is estimated at $20 million.
Department of Conservation Fisheries Chief James Fry said, "This project will revolutionize Missouris warm water hatchery system and meet our needs for fish, and for fish management purposes, in an economical manner well into the next century."
The Hatchery will directly benefit anglers who contribute to the Sport Fish Restoration program, producing a variety of species for statewide stocking of lakes and ponds. Known as a user-pay program, the Sport Fish Restoration Program dates back to 1950 and is funded by excise taxes paid by anglers and boaters on fishing equipment, a portion of the Federal fuels tax, and import duties on fishing tackle and pleasure boats.
Sport Fish Restoration dollars are collected directly from the importer or manufacturer and transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for distribution to the states. The Service then uses a formula based upon the number of licensed anglers and the geographic size of the state for fund distribution. Missouri currently receives approximately $4.8 million annually through the Federal program.
Dave Pederson, Fishery Biologist, said, The Lost Valley Fish Hatchery construction is tentatively scheduled to go out for bid next spring, with ground breaking possible as early as summer. The project is the culmination of 15 years of planning, site studies, analysis and design. Construction will include hatchery administrative, production and interpretive facilities, storage facilities, and 68 acres of lined ponds. The project provides needed capabilities for production and new opportunities to meet both current and future sport fish restoration and management goals of the Department of Conservation.
Pederson noted that the completed project provides the Department of Conservation with the opportunity to retire some outdated, less-efficient hatcheries; to increase overall production capabilities of their fisheries program; to better manage the genetic integrity of fish produced; and to better manage supply and delivery of species and sizes of fish produced at the specific times they are needed.
Missouri has an estimated 1.3 million anglers with fishing expenditures totaling about $439 million annually. Of the $4.8 million in 1996 Sport Fish Restoration funds for Missouri: 29 percent went to small lake construction, 26 percent to public lake management, 16 percent to fishing/boat access, 16 percent to research, 7 percent to aquatic education and 6 percent to technical assistance.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
