Statewide Spawning Crew
Fish Spawning is the first and one of the most vital strategies in fish culture. The statewide wild fish spawning crew, based out of scenic Pinedale, Wyoming, has the objective to collect fertilized fish eggs from various wild fish populations throughout Wyoming. The eggs collected from Wyoming’s wild fish populations may be used for fish production, species recovery, trades with other state/federal agencies, or brood recruitment for wild and captive broodstocks held at one of ten Wyoming Game and Fish Department operated hatcheries. Each year the spawning crew collects several million fish eggs from wild fish populations throughout the state of Wyoming.
Spawning fish in the wild requires capturing mature adults with a variety of methods including trap nets, dip nets, seines, v-traps, gill nets, and electro-fishing. Fish eggs gathered for fish production come primarily from arctic grayling and kokanee salmon. Fish eggs gathered for broodstock recruitment and establishment from wild sources are done by this crew. For example, Wyoming Game and Fish Department recognizes four subspecies of cutthroat trout (Snake River, Bear River, Yellowstone, and Colorado Cutthroat). These four subspecies are the only native trout species in Wyoming. The Spawning Crew is responsible for spawning these subspecies from wild sources to assure genetic integrity of these broodstocks. The spawning of sauger in the Little Wind River has been a success story and as a result the sauger population there has benefited from the stocking of progeny from the spawning crew’s efforts.
The spawning crew also conducts the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s alpine lake fish stocking program. Approximately 60 – 70 lakes are stocked annually via helicopter using GPS coordinates. This operation provides opportunities for back country fishers to catch unique fish species and maintains fish numbers when natural reproduction cannot sustain the population.
The Statewide Spawning Crew can be contacted at:
Wild Fish Spawning Crew
P.O Box 850
Pinedale, Wyoming 82941