Around this time of a year you may come to witness an eye-opening process in parts of Utah: it’s known as aerial fish stocking.
Yes, they drop fish out of airplanes into bodies of water.
Restocking fish populations in lakes is not new; it started in the 19th century, often so that people who wanted to go fishing had something to catch.
In those days, some restockers would take requests and add fish to lakes where they weren’t normally found.
More often today, they stick to native fish that are already in a particular lake, especially if that population can’t sustain itself, or if there’s another fish that’s outcompeting other species and upsetting the ecological balance.
Restocking has its critics as well as its supporters.
Nonetheless, it’s done in many lakes, often by driving a truck full of fish from a hatchery up to the lake and then using tubes to make the transfer.
Before motor vehicles, that was a job done on horseback; they’d carry big metal milk jugs full of water and fish.
But some lakes aren’t accessible by road (or, for that matter, by horse).
Those lakes are where the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources sends pilots to drop fish in by air.
Planes carry enough fish to restock several lakes, and the pilots hover around 150 feet overhead before giving the chosen type of trout to demonstrate their diving skills.
The wildlife officials say that when the fish are that size they can usually handle the drop just fine, and that they’re actually more at risk from the stress of waiting around to drop.
And it happens pretty fast: in video of past drops, it just looks like the plane lets out of a quick jet of water, for about as long as honking a car horn.
Slowed down, you see the fish heading out the door and toward the lake, sort of like a mini fishnado.
In Traverse City, Michigan, there are still a few more days left of the National Cherry Festival.
There will be air shows, farmers markets, fun runs and live music.
Plus, they have an Adult Cherry Pit Spit Contest, a Cherry Teddy Bear Tea for kids, and the Very Cherry Flying Pancake Breakfast.
They toss the pancakes at you and you have to catch them on your plate!
Utah is dropping thousands of fish from planes – again (CNN)
We hope you’ll drop a few bucks in to support our show on Patreon
Screenshot from Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
