Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery in Arizona resumes rearing rainbow trout

They are rearing rainbow trout again at the Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery in northwest Arizona.

The failure of a Colorado River water intake system ended trout production at the facility 15 miles south of the Nevada border in November 2013. But a collaborative effort by federal, state and local government officials and agencies funded repairs to put the trout portion of the hatchery back in operation two weeks ago.

Project leader Mark Olson said 51,000 trout fingerlings were placed in hatchery raceways on Aug. 16, most of them about 4.5 inches long.

“The goal is to get them to 12 inches and it takes an inch a month to grow trout,” Olson said. “We’re hoping to start stocking some fish in February at locations to be determined by Game and Fish.”

Olson said the trout are being raised in 18 raceways that are about 8 feet wide and 100 feet long. He said the hatchery’s other 18 raceways are used to raise endangered razorback sucker fish.