The utah division of wildlife resources will maintain its 13 hatchery facilities in a manner that will allow them to produce the eggs and fish needed to meet state regional request

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) received a $4.7 million Formula Grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service under the Sport Fish Restoration program (CFDA 15.605) for the period of July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. The award funds the operation and maintenance of 13 hatchery facilities that produce eggs and fish to meet statewide sportfish stocking demands and conservation needs. Key facilities include the Mantua and Egan hatcheries, which produce salmonid eggs for distribution to other production facilities; Mammoth Creek Hatchery, which maintains brood cutthroat trout stocks; and Lee Kay Hatchery, which produces tiger muskellunge from brood muskellunge and northern pike populations. Additionally, UDWR operates eight wild traps to collect eggs for conservation and sportfish purposes.

To supplement in-state production capacity for warm and cool water fish species, the grant funds UDWR's procurement of additional fish from external sources and the subsequent delivery and distribution of all fish stocks to various waters throughout Utah. This comprehensive hatchery operations program ensures adequate supplies of diverse fish species to support the state's recreational angling opportunities and meet conservation objectives established by regional fisheries management priorities.

All quotas are established based on conservation needs or sportfish stocking to meet angler demands. Our mantua and egan hatcheries produce various species of salmonid eggs for sportfish need and shipped to the other hatcheries to raise. Mammoth creek hatchery holds brood cutthroat trout to produce eggs for conservation and sportfish needs. LEE KAY hatchery holds brood muskellunge and northern pike to produce tiger muskie. The rest of the hatcheries receive eggs from one of these hatcheries to produce fish for stocking. Eight wild traps are operated by hatchery staff to collect eggs for conservation and sportfish needs they are then raised at production hatcheries and stocked. The state of utah does not have the capability to raise all of the warm and cool water fish to meet the needs of anglers in the state. Which requires the state to buy them or obtain them from other states after which hatchery personnel deliver and distribute them to various waters in the state.