National Fish Hatcheries

Fish hatcheries operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been around for more than 120 years. The hatcheries have helped to ensure the recovery of species of fish that have been listed as threatened or endangered, restored native fish stocks, replaced fisheries lost as a result of water projects, and supplied fish to Indian tribes and Service lands. This report provides information on (1) the funding level for the National Fish Hatchery System since fiscal year 1992, (2) the current production level at federal hatcheries, and (3) health and disease problems at the hatcheries that raise concerns about releasing the fish into the wild.

GAO noted that: (1) appropriations for operating the National Fish Hatchery System decreased about 15 percent from fiscal years (FY) 1992 through 1999 while the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) overall budget increased during this period; (2) according to FWS personnel, these funding declines have resulted in unfilled staff positions and a drop in the distribution of fish and fish eggs; (3) about one-fourth of the positions at federal hatcheries are unfilled, and 1998 fish distribution was about 19 percent below 1992 levels; (4) in FY 1998, the National Fish Hatchery System distributed about 163 million fish, weighing a total of about 5.7 million pounds, and about 122 million fish eggs; (5) GAO's review of FWS' records showed that its data overstated the extent to which the distribution from federal hatcheries has gone for restoration or recovery efforts; (6) GAO found that 40 percent of the fish and 20 percent of the pounds distributed were used to assist in restoration and recovery efforts, not 80 percent of the fish and 56 percent of the pounds as identified by FWS; (7) moreover, federal hatcheries have assisted in the production of fish for commercial and recreational purposes to a greater extent than FWS indicated; (8) about three-fourths of the fish and half of the fish eggs were distributed to waters under federal jurisdiction, with most of the rest distributed to waters under state jurisdiction; (9) FWS officials and other fish health experts agree that much remains to be learned about the interaction of diseases between wild fish and hatchery-raised fish; (10) they stated that hatchery fish were not necessarily less healthy than wild fish but were more likely to show outward symptoms of disease, a tendency they attributed to the greater stress hatchery fish experience from changes in water temperature and quality, high population densities of fish, handling and transporting; (11) the hatcheries' responses to the health and disease problems in hatchery fish varied; (12) officials said many situations were alleviated with antibiotics or by reducing the stressful conditions, but, in some instances, fish or eggs were destroyed to avoid transmitting a problem to other fish; (13) GAO identified instances in which fish that may have been diseased had been released; and (14) hatchery officials said the latter course of action had been taken only with the concurrence of state officials and only in situations where a body of water was closed or where the specific disease was already known to exist.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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