They're avoiding sea lamprey, reaching adulthood, and showing up on spawning reefs. This natural top-predator of the Great Lakes is a great fit. The Saratoga facility has a fortunate circumstance in common with another brood stock hatchery, Ennis National Fish Hatchery in Ennis, Montana. Whirling disease is insidious and in far too many trout waters across the U.S. Young trout are most vulnerable to this sometimes debilitating disease. Fish Health biologist, Ken Peters, says that monitoring fish health is but a small part in disease prevention.
Clean facilities means clean fish.
Twenty million eggs of six strains of rainbow trout are produced there annually. Our facilities are the source of brown, rainbow, and lake trout eggs that benefits people in 30-plus states. Brimm notes that a well-coordinated distribution of fish eggs assures high genetic integrity of fish and a low occurrence of disease. Moreover, fish coming from brood stock hatcheries stimulate the economy. Rainbows from Ennis National Fish Hatchery fill angler's nets in state and tribal waters across the country.