Minnesota hatchery seeks $5-million repair budget

A hatchery in Minnesota that raises more than half of all the trout stocked statewide is in serious need of repair.

The Lanesboro State Fish Hatchery was established in 1925 to help maintain fishing recreation in Southeastern Minnesota streams where native brook trout populations have waned.

Aside from its age, its location near a creek and river which made it prone to flooding has weakened its structures. As recent as 2013, floodwaters overtook a rearing pond and wiped out 76,000 young trout, according to CBS Minnesota.

Repairs are expected to cost roughly $5 million, an amount now being requested from the state legislature. DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr calls the hatchery repair a priority project.

Conservation groups said the repairs to the hatchery are vital to the trout fishery’s future. The rainbow and brown trout raised and released each year will add roughly $700 million to the state’s economy, said the report.