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. 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. |