Featured Species
Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery annually raises a series of 5 sterile strains of rainbow trout. Strains of rainbow trout are received as eggs from Ennis National Fish Hatchery and are dependent upon availability. Annually, Willow Beach stocks a minimum of 100,000 Rainbow trout averaging 10-12 inches in the Lower Colorado River Basin.
The hatchery in conjunction with Achii Hanyo Native Fish Rearing Facility raise the native, endangered razorback sucker and bonytail chub warm water fish species for stocking into the Lower Colorado River Basin. The bonytail chub are from the Lake Mohave strain and come from Southwestern Native Aquatic Resource and Recovery Center’s broodstock broodstock
The reproductively mature adults in a population that breed (or spawn) and produce more individuals (offspring or progeny).
Learn more about broodstock program. The fish complete growing at Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery or Achii Hanyo Facilities or both before stocking. Each year, the Bureau of Reclamation and other fisheries sampling staff provide Willow Beach with newly hatched razorback sucker fry from the Lower Colorado River. These razorback fry complete growing at our facilities before being stocked. Both the razorback sucker and bonytail chub are a minimum of 300 millimeters in total length prior to stocking. Before being stocked into the Lower Colorado River Basin, both species are individually tagged for identification and future population monitoring. Our facilities will continue to provide razorback sucker and bonytail chub until program goals from the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program are met or restructured.
