FRESHWATER FISH CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES 



HARVEY WILLOUGHBY' 



INTRODUCTION 



Freshwater fish culture in the United States is a 

 popular and fast growing business. Fish are reared 

 for three main purposes: 1) for stocking public and 

 private waters to support commerciai and sport fish- 

 ing or to be used as bait to catch sport and commer- 

 cial species, 2) for marketing directly to the 

 consumer for food, and 3) for home aquariums or 

 private tlsh ponds for ornamentation and pleasure. 



Rearing fish to augment depleted natural stocks, 

 or to introduce new species into public waters has 

 traditionally represented the greatest expenditure of 

 effort in America. The State of Massachusetts estab- 

 lished the first government-owned hatchery in the 

 United States in 1868. It was followed by the States 

 of Connecticut and New York, and in 1871 the fed- 

 eral government established a fish commission to 

 study the decline of native fish stocks and to recom- 

 mend remedial measures. This commission later be- 

 came the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries — the predeces- 

 sor agency of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and 

 Wildlife, which I represent, and the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service, which employs my colleagues, 

 William N. Shaw. John B. Glude. and Robert D. 

 Wildman. This yearthen, 1971, marks the centennial 

 year ofour federal government's involvement in fish 

 conservation. A series of celebrations and other 

 special events have been held throughout this year to 

 commemorate our centennial year. 



The activities of the federal government in the 

 field offish culture, fishery research, and manage- 

 ment have been expanded greatly during the last one 

 hundred years, but they have been outpaced by the 

 indi\ idual state governments. As an indication of the 

 relative level of effort by the federal and state gov- 



ernments, It is noted that the federal government 

 operates 95 fish hatcheries and funds another 15 that 

 are operated by states, while hatcheries operated by 

 the state governments number about 500. To get a 

 picture of the total U.S. effort in fish culture, one 

 would add more than 2.000 private fish growers to 

 the above list. 



LEVEL OF FISH PRODUCTION 



Fish produced at hatcheries operated by federal 

 and state agencies are stocked primarily in public 

 waters to improve or maintain sport and commercial 

 fishing. The Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 

 and many state agencies also furnish fish, free of 

 charge, for stocking waters owned or controlled by 

 individuals. Much emphasis is on stocking sport fish 

 since fishing is one of the most popular outdoor 

 sports in the United States. In 1970, over 49 million 

 sport fishermen fished in fresh and salt waters (U.S. 

 Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, 1971.) 



In addition to federal and state hatcheries, there 

 are well over 2,000 commercial hatcheries in the 

 United States. These are divided into three general 

 classes: bait minnow, catfish, and trout hatcheries. 



The estimated production of freshwater fish pro- 

 duced in 1965 by all hatcheries in the United States 

 was as follows: 



' C hiel. DjMsion ot Fish Hatcheries. Bureau of Sport Fisheries 

 .ind Wildlife. L'.S. Department ofthe Interior. Washinylon. D.C. 

 20240: present address; Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. 

 L'.S. Dep.irtmeni of the Interior. P.O. Bo\ 25486. Den\er. CO 

 S0225. 



Data from federal fish hatcheries show that pro- 

 duction costs have been significantly lower in the 

 past 20 yr (Table I). The total cost of producing a 

 kilogram of trout has decreased about 4^f 

 because of better diets, improved feeding practices, 

 and more efficient operations. Feed costs have been 



67 



