The main trout and salmon growing facility at Hagerman.
The University of Idaho’s Hagerman Research Center is a fish lover’s dream. There has to be thousands – if not tens of thousands – of beautiful, healthy, delicious salmon and trout swimming around. From tubs chock full of hundreds of the little devils to bigger tubs filled with about a dozen nearly mature specimens, this whole place is about salmon.
(By the way, did you know salmon and trout are basically the same thing? Rainbow Trout and Pacific varieties of Salmon are the same genus – the first of the italicized words in the Latin name of an animal – meaning they’re so similar genetically they can breed. The same goes with Brown Trout and Atlantic varieties of salmon. And Steelhead? Nothing more than a Rainbow Trout that goes out to sea like a salmon. Confused? I know I am!)
So what are they doing with all these fish?
Genetics, of course.
Hagerman's egg incubation facility.
Through a process of selective breeding, scientists are creating species of salmon and trout that are more resistant to disease, grow faster, grow larger and grow just as well on a vegetarian diet as on a diet consisting of fishmeal and oil.
(If it seems like I just said the word “grow” a lot, it’s because I did. A lot of the research goes towards the salmon farming industry.)
And they’ve had success. After four generations, trout and salmon now reach the same weight thy used to reach in a year in six months. And for the first time, a family of salmon grew just as fast on an all-plant protein diet as on a conventional fishmeal diet.
Additionally, the lab looks at the amount of phosphorus the fish take up and how much of it is in their food; an important factor in the environmental concerns of such facilities.
Hagerman's facilities for newly hatched trout and salmon. There are thousands of those little guys in there!
But the center does, of course, also address environmental issues and natural conservation. Every year they use genetics to monitor the returning salmon from endangered populations and to archive their DNA as well.
The facilities here include a 5,000-square-foot fish research lab, an outdoor facility of holding tanks, an egg incubation system, a warm water fish lab, ornamental fish breeding tanks, and giant pools filled with sturgeon.
Believe it or not, the people that run the place want to get into breeding and growing ornamental fish. And why not?
Rare species, fully grown and healthy, con often fetch thousands of dollars each. And the sturgeon? Be on the lookout for Vandal caviar, someday coming to a store near you!
Hagerman's tanks for experimental ornamental fish breeding.
Tags: extension center, genetics, Hagerman, research center, salmon