The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and organizations with a DNR permit stocked 31.9 million fish in the state during 2014. In a typical year, stocking numbers are between 22 million and 24 million fish.
The increase was primarily due to a near-record number of walleye eggs collected at Brookville Lake by DNR biologists for hatchery production. Those eggs also had a higher-than-normal survival rate. As a result, biologists stocked approximately 10 million more walleye fry than normal.
Other species stocked in Indiana included bluegill, brown trout, crappie, channel catfish, chinook salmon, coho salmon, grass carp, hybrid striped bass, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, muskie, pike, rainbow trout, redear sunfish, saugeye, steelhead, striped bass, and yellow perch.
The fish are produced at the state’s seven hatcheries and one trout rearing station. Stockings supplement natural reproduction or help establish a species in an area where it cannot reproduce on its own. Indiana’s fish stocking program is funded through fishing license sales and the Sport Fish Restoration Fund.
A list of locations stocked in 2014 can be found at http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/5457.htm. For more information, visit dnr.IN.gov.
source: Indiana Department of Natural Resources