Technicians of the Bureau have made a rather extensive report substantiating the need for a Federal fish hatchery in Nevada. The report was not completed until late February of 1961. Hence there was no appropriation item requested for continuance of the program in the fiscal 1962 budget. I feel that, since Nevada does not have a Federal fish hatchery and since the need is great for providing ample fish for the thousands of visitors and sportsmen who reside in Nevada and visit Nevada each year for the purpose of fishing the rivers and streams, it is urgent that an appropriation be granted this year which will advance planning for the Federal fish hatchery.

On April 12, 1961, I was advised by the Acting Director of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife that the first phase of this program would require $150,000.

This phase includes land acquisition, for which a site has already been determined at an estimated cost of $20,000, the drilling of four wells to a depth of approximately 450 feet at a cost of $60,000, four pumps and motors with standby units at an estimated cost of $50,000 and engineering and contingencies at a cost of $20,000 for a total of $150,000.

As members of the Appropriations Committee will recall, a Federal fish hatchery was authorized in the Washoe Project Act some years back. While one dam is nearing completion under terms of this act, it is anticipated that it may be some time before other dams are constructed and it is believed to be desirable that a fish hatchery be established as early as possible to meet the growing needs of sportsmen in the area. In Nevada we have a total of 441 rivers and streams and 39 lakes, reservoirs, and ponds. Nevada presently secures approximately 25 percent of the production of the Federal fish hatchery at Hagerman, Idaho. It is necessary to transport these fish hundreds of miles into Nevada for the planting of some 30,000 to 50,000 pounds of trout annually. Eighty percent of this allotment has been utilized in the western Nevada area principally because the fish cultural stations in that section of the State are inadequate to provide the necessary poundage of fish to properly take care of the needs. These fish are hauled at much expense. A Federal fish hatchery in the western part of the State would partially eliminate this hauling and would have the added advantage of providing stronger fish to be planted in our waters. It would also allow the utilization of a poriton of the Hagerman allotment in the eastern part of the State to fulfill some of the deficits in that area.

Last year I was advised by Mr. Frank Groves, the director of the Nevada Fish and Wildlife Department, that there was a 31-percent deficiency in the plantings of fish in Nevada waters.

I have recently received a letter from Mr. Groves in which he approves of the findings in the preliminary examination by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. It is projected by the Bureau that a total of 125,000 pounds of rainbow and Lahontan cutthroat trout would be reared in the proposed hatchery for plantings in rivers and lakes in the western Nevada area. In addition to these findings the Nevada Fish and Game Department has advised me that there is a need for plantings of approximately 100,000 pounds of trout in Lake Tahoe, a California-Nevada lake, as well as 15,000 pounds for the Topaz Reservoir, also located in California and Nevada. Stockings for these two bodies of water were not planned in the study as now proposed by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries. I am most hopeful that the committee will aprove of the $150,000 appropriation which I am requesting and wish to urge that technicians from the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife give further study in cooperation with the Nevada Fish and Game Department to the need for additional plantings other than those in their original proposal.

The Bureau has estimated the total cost of the proposed hatchery including roads, sewers, wells, residences and hatchery, at $996,000. While they have estimated the need for rearing some 125,000 pounds of fish annually the Fish and Game Department of Nevada has estimated that it could beneficially use 237,500 pounds of fish annually. The latter figure would, of course, include the additional bodies of water which I have mentioned.

Nevada is one of the fastest growing States percentagewise and it has been impossible for our State fish and game department to finance adequately fisheries to meet the growing needs of the public. As I previously stated Nevada is perhaps the only State in the Union which does not have a Federal fish hatchery. I will appreciate the consideration of this committee toward granting the $150.000 request and securing final approval for this urgently needed hatchery. At this point I would like to submit for the record a copy of a report which was received this morning. The report is at my request and is a study made

by Mr. Thomas Trelease, the chief of fisheries, Nevada State Fish and Game Department. The report points out in detail additional facets for the need for establishment of the Federal fish hatchery.

To: Frank Groves, Director.

MAY 1, 1961.

From: Thomas Trelease, Chief of Fisheries.
Subject: Information relative to the needs of the various waters of western
Nevada insofar as stocking is concerned, for Senator Alan Bible.

In accordance with your request for data to be supplied to Senator Bible the following will, I believe, give him a pretty fair idea of our problems.

For some time we have been working with the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife in connection with a proposed Federal hatchery, the plans for which were developed in connection with the Bureau of Reclamation's Washoe project. Attached is a copy of a letter to Mr. Paul Berg of the river basin studies which outlines our recommendations for the stocking of the fish from that hatchery, insofar as Nevada is concerned. In addition to the poundages of fish enumerated there would be additional fish planted into waters of the Washoe project area within the State of California.

Due to the interest of local sportsmen in the Hawthorne area to obtain cutthroat trout for Walker Lake, considerable effort has been devoted to trying to get a Federal hatchery for the stocking of that body of water. As a result, the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife are planning the enlargement of the Washoe project hatchery to include space for an additional production of 25,000 pounds of cutthroat trout for Walker Lake. It was their contention that it would be more economical to combine the needs of Walker Lake into the Washoe project hatchery than it would to build a separate hatchery for that production.

In compliance with Senator Bible's request for the needs of various waters in the entire western part of the State, I would like to point out that over and above the needs as listed on Mr. Berg's letter for the waters of the Washoe project area and for Walker Lake, there are some waters, which I believe could well be considered within the realm of the Senator's request. They would be Lakes Tahoe and Topaz because of their interstate nature. On the basis of knowledge which we now have in connection with the growth of our human population in the Tahoe and western Nevada areas there appears to be a need of approximately 100,000 pounds of trout for Tahoe alone, with an additional approximate 15,000 pounds for Topaz Reservoir.

Other waters in western Nevada which may be considered to justify the need for a Federal station may be Lahontan and Ryepatch Reservoirs, which are also Bureau of Reclamation projects. These projects have created a demand for trout, particularly in the areas below the dams which have resulted in a drain upon our existing State facilities.

An additional benefit which could be attributed to a Federal hatchery in Nevada would be in the way of reducing some of the long-distance fish hauling from the U.S. Fish Cultural Station at Hagerman, Idaho. Due to the fact that Nevada does not have a Federal fish hatchery we have been obtaining an allotment of 25 percent of the U.S. Fish Cultural Station at Hagerman, Idaho, for the past many years. This has usually been from 30,000 to 50,000 pounds of trout annually. Eighty percent of this allotment has been utilized in the western Nevada area, principally because the fish cultural stations in that section of our State are inadequate to provide the necessary poundage of fish to properly take care of the larger human population that exists therein. These fish have been hauled from Hagerman, Idaho, clear across the State of Nevada at much expense. A Federal fish hatchery in the western part of the State could eliminate or at least partially eliminate this hauling, and would have the added advantage of allowing stronger fish to be planted in our waters, in other words, fish which had not been in transit for such long periods of time. Furthermore, this would allow us then to utilize our Hagerman allotment in the eastern part of the State to fulfill some of the deficits we have there.

In addition to the above, Senator Bible also wants information relative to the number of licensed fishermen from Nevada and the planting of fish relative thereto.

To further elaborate on the deficiency of fish which we have available for adequately stocking the waters of our State, I would like to point out that in 1958, we completed a 6-year survey of the waters of the State of Nevada This includes 441 rivers and streams and 39 lakes, reservoirs, and ponds. Each body of water was evaluated on the basis of its biological and physical characteristics, its accessibility, past stockings which had been made on it and the angler uage that it was getting. In connection with the latter phase we conducted a 10-percent sample of all fishing license holders in order to determine their fishing success and its relationship to the stocking that was done in 1957, which was 205,234 pounds. This was the highest production we ever attained and was due to exceptionally good growth and rearing conditions for that year.

Our normal production with the facilities that we had at that time and which are the same facilities that we are using today, is approximately 163, 000 pounds annually. However, the need that was developed through the 6-year study indicated that we should be stocking our waters with approximately 251,775 pounds. Even this gave only relatively light stockings to large lakes such as Pyramid, Walker, and Tahoe. As you can see, the deficiency at that time (1957) was about 44,541 pounds. Under normal rearing conditions it would be about 88,775 pounds.

According to the estimates of the Reno Chamber of Commerce, the 1957 population of Nevada was approximately 267,000. By actual count the 1960 census showed a population of 285,278. Our production today still is hovering in the neighborhood of 163,000 pounds. As a matter of fact, our production for 1960 was 166,308 pounds. Therefore, you can see that we are falling considerably behind in keeping up with our expanding population. Further information which was requested by Senator Bible was data on the number of licensed fishermen during the past several years. Attached is a copy of our fishing license sales which indicates the number of licenses sold for the 10-year period from 1950 to and including 1959. With the exception of minor annual fluctuations it shows a general trend of increase. With more leisure time that people have today it is entirely probable that this trend may go upward much more rapidly in the future than it has in the past. Thus, it appears evident that we need a substantial hatchery or hatcheries for this area, whether they be Federal or State, or both. Just as a summarized listing of the needs for the convenience of Senator Bible, the following could be considered to be appropriate. Recommended stockings of reared fish for western Nevada waters.

I hope the data herein contained is in accordance with the Senator's request and will be of use to him.

Sincerely,

THOMAS J. TRELEASE.