Bozeman Fish Technology Center Facility Celebrates 125 Years

This Saturday June 10th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., take the family to the Bozeman Fish Technology Center.

Fun And Activities
Lots of activities and exhibits for the kids, like fly-tying and casting, face painting, duck races, bear spray training, hatchery tours, see noxious weed-loving goats in action, music and food, and, of course, the incredibly popular fishing derby for kids. Local artist, Jim Dolan, will display the metal sculpture of a pallid sturgeon he created to commemorate the facility’s 125 years of operation.

A Little History
The facility was established on August 5, 1892, as the first national fish hatchery in the northern Rocky Mountains to produce trout and other trout-family fishes for stocking lakes and streams in Montana and Wyoming.  Initial construction was completed in 1896, and fish production began during winter 1897. Archives show species produced included the first planted stock of rainbow trout in Yellowstone National Park, and there is an entry where Colonel William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) requested trout and Arctic grayling for waters on his ranch in Wyoming. In October 1966, the facility was recommissioned as a fish cultural development center, moving to improve hatchery production, which set the stage for the facility’s designation as a fish technology center in 1983.

125 Years Later
Today, Bozeman Fish Technology Center researches and provides technical guidance on a variety of national and regional aquatic issues. Work at the technology center is focused in the fields of Conservation Physiology, Fish Nutrition and Diet Development, Fish Passage and Screening, and Sensitive Aquatic Species Conservation.

Bozeman Fish Technology Center is just 2 miles northeast of Bozeman. Visitors are welcome to tour the facility year-round, let their kids feed trout in the pond, and enjoy nature. For your safety and for the benefit of the facility’s research programs, please respect signs and access limitations.  Normal hours are 8a-4:30p. For more, visit the Bozeman Fish Technology Center website, or call (406) 587- 9265.