Agency plans new fish hatchery near Bigfork

The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department is taking bids for the construction of a new fish hatchery north of Bigfork near the Flathead River.

Stewart Kienow, manager of the Somers Fish Hatchery, said the department acquired 20 acres on Riverside Road in 1970. The property has been used to a limited extent over the last 10 years to raise grayling, but the plan now is to expand the operation to include kokanee salmon, native cutthroat trout and possibly bull trout.

"We should have the ability to raise about 300,000 three-inch fish there initially," Kienow said. "Hopefully, it will be bigger in the future."

The Somers hatchery, by comparison, raises more than a million salmon in a year. However, it distributes them for planting when they're smaller.

"If we raised three-inch fish, we could raise about 150,000," he said.

There's an artesian well on the Riverside Road property that produces almost 2,000 gallons per minute, Kienow said. The water temperature is 51 degrees, which is perfect for trout.

The preliminary intent is to run the new hatchery out of the Somers office.

Construction bids are due by 2 p.m. on May 4 in the Department of Administration's Architecture and Engineering Division office in Helena. The project involves adding a small building and installing and plumbing the hatchery raceways.

"I'd like to see it up and running by fall," Kienow said.