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National Fish Hatcheries: Classification of the Distribution of Fish and Eggs Needs Refinement

RCED-00-10 Published: Oct 15, 1999. Publicly Released: Nov 01, 1999.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the activities of the National Fish Hatchery System, focusing on: (1) the funding level for the National Fish Hatchery System since 1992 and the funding level's impact on operations; (2) the production level at federal hatcheries; (3) the portion of production that is used for recovery and restoration efforts; (4) the distribution of total hatchery production into federal, state, and other waters; and (5) the issues related to health and disease problems at these hatcheries that pose problems for introducing their fish into the wild.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Interior To provide Congress with the information needed to evaluate the appropriate role of the National Fish Hatchery System, the Secretary of the Interior should direct the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service to take steps to refine the classification system for fish and fish egg distribution and help ensure that hatchery managers appropriately classify all fish and fish egg distribution by its principal purpose.
Closed – Implemented
At the time the report was issued, the agency had already begun changing it classification system for hatchery production.

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Topics

Animal diseasesstate relationsFishesWater resources conservationWildlife conservationFishWildlifeSpeciesSalmonFishing industry