Clearwater Preschool children were invited to take part in the annual fish stocking of Dutch Lake on May 9 at the Dutch Lake Boat launch. “The Preschool children always come to help out,” said Mark Green, manager of Clearwater Trout Hatchery. “They really enjoy releasing the fish.”
The group released a total of 4,000 kokanee and 1,500 rainbow trout for the annual spring stocking of Dutch Lake.
Clearwater Trout Hatchery (Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC) stocks over 300 lakes in B.C. a year covering areas north of Merritt up to the Yukon border. Fish releases are carried out at two different times a year by the society. Fish are released into lakes in the spring from April - June and then again in the fall in September.
“Between the five BC hatcheries we stock upwards of 8 million fish a year,” said Green. Clearwater Trout Hatchery stocks approximately 3.5 million fish a year out of Clearwater. “We stock public access lakes only,” said Green. “Dutch Lake is a spring stock only.”