Manning Meadow Fish Spawn

We headed up to Manning Meadow on Monroe Mountain to help the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources with their annual cutthroat trout spawning. We assisted them for three of the eight days it took to complete what was needed for the spawn. For those of you who do not know, a fish spawn is a breeding event. Fish, along with many other animals, breed only one time each year and that timing varies between species. Environmental conditions and genetic backgrounds trigger a species to exhibit behavior and prepare for this event. For cutthroat trouts on Monroe Mountain, the timing and conditions are happening this week. Males develop spawning colors which consist of a red coloration to their fins and bellies. This is one signal that it is time to breed. The other signal is that the fish begin collecting around the stream inlets of the reservoir. Trout, like their salmon cousins, generally swim upstream for spawning. Structures have been built to prevent these fish from moving upstream, however they will instinctively go as far upstream as they can. This cement structure is where we were able to contain the fish heading upstream. Fish were sorted by gender and the squeezing process began (see video). This is how fish eggs are collected from the wild and taken to be raised in a hatchery. If my understanding is correct, each female can average around 900 eggs and 70-80% of them will be successfully reared in the hatchery. Once grown, these fish will be stocked in the Manning Meadow reservoir and other forest streams and lakes throughout the region.

Bonneville Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii)