Cabinet Gorge Fish Hatchery is located in North Idaho, on the south side of the Clark Fork River, approximately 8 miles SE of the town of Clark Fork, ID.
The hatchery was constructed in 1985 to mitigate for fish losses caused by the construction of hydroelectric dams on the PendOreille River system. The project was co-funded by Avista Corp., Bonneville Power Administration, and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
Related Location
1070 Cabinet Gorge Road
Clark Fork, ID 83811
United States
Water for fish rearing at the hatchery is supplied by 4 ground water well pumps and 3 spring water pumps. A total of 10,995 gallons per minute of water is supplied by these pumps and routed to 64 individual raceways. Each raceway can hold 250,000 two inch kokanee salmon. Water temperatures can range from 36 degrees F to 68 degrees F, but are mixed to provide optimum rearing temperature for Salmonids.
The primary species of fish reared is kokanee salmon. The hatchery can take up to 20 million eggs and rear up to 16 million fish to two inches. Cabinet Gorge Fish Hatchery fulfills late kokanee requests for Lake Pend Oreille as well as Region 3 lakes such as Cascade, Payette, Upper Payette and Horsethief.
Other species raised include rainbow trout. (fall chinook requests have been eliminated, Western Cutthroat and Rainbow Trout requests have been done for 1 year with possibility of doing again in the future, not sure if those need to be added or not).
Cabinet Gorge personnel are also responsible for the stocking of fish from the Sandpoint Fish Hatchery and the Hale Mullan Fish Hatchery.
Visitors are welcome 7 days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Winter access can be challenging, call ahead for road conditions. Accommodations can be made for large group tours, please call ahead to make arrangements. There are minimal fish on station July through September. (208) 266-1431